Antibiomania: A Case Report of a Manic Episode Potentially Induced by the Interaction of Clarithromycin and Amoxicillin during H. Pylori Eradication Therapy.

Antibiomanic episodes, or as the DSM-5 refers to them, drug-induced manic episodes, pose a clinical challenge that is still poorly understood. There is insufficient information on the most common clinical presentation, patient profile, or underlying aetiopathogenic mechanisms. We present the clinical case of a 67-year-old woman who, after starting treatment (clarithromycin and amoxicillin) for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, bacteria presented with a brief manic episode, which resolved after withdrawal of both drugs and with antipsychotic treatment. The possible interaction of both drugs, as GABA antagonists, in the generation of such episodes is discussed, and the clinical importance of such episodes in psychiatric emergency departments and liaison and interconsultation psychiatry, is highlighted.

Antibiomania: A Case Report of a Manic Episode Potentially Induced by the Interaction of Clarithromycin and Amoxicillin during H. Pylori Eradication Therapy

Antibiomanic episodes, or as the DSM-5 refers to them, drug-induced manic episodes, pose a clinical challenge that is still poorly understood. There is insufficient information on the most common clinical presentation, patient profile, or underlying aetiopathogenic mechanisms. We present the clinical case of a 67-year-old woman who, after starting treatment (clarithromycin and amoxicillin) for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, bacteria presented with a brief manic episode, which resolved after withdrawal of both drugs and with antipsychotic treatment. The possible interaction of both drugs, as GABA antagonists, in the generation of such episodes is discussed, and the clinical importance of such episodes in psychiatric emergency departments and liaison and interconsultation psychiatry, is highlighted. (AU)

How to Improve Training in Descriptive Psychopathology for Psychiatry Residents: A Delphi Study.

PURPOSE: Descriptive psychopathology (DP) is the language of psychiatry and is dedicated to the description of mental symptoms. Despite its core importance, a systematic review identified a series of shortcomings in its training. This Delphi study seeks to provide guidance for better didactic and clinical training in DP. METHOD: The authors used the Delphi method in order to gather, pool, and optimize the knowledgeable opinion of a highly qualified panel of international experts on how to improve DP training. A preliminary phase with open-ended questions was the basis to elaborate a Delphi questionnaire consisting of 14 questions on didactic and clinical training, which was then used in two successive Delphi rounds. Twenty-nine international experts in DP participated throughout the study. RESULTS: A series of hierarchical lists on how to improve DP training were elaborated. Regarding didactic training, the experts valued the contents and educational methods, as well as recommended authors and texts. Regarding clinical training, the experts valued educational methods, desirable characteristics in clinical supervisors, how to improve the supervisors' expertise, useful aspects and facilitating questions for direct supervision, and the suitability of including other evaluators besides the supervisor. In the final survey, 94% of the experts considered that the Delphi method had been effective to obtain and improve their opinions. CONCLUSIONS: Insufficient direct supervision in live interviews was considered the most important problem. A series of general measures were proposed to improve DP training: (i) adapting DP training throughout residency, with introductory and advanced levels; (ii) making DP training compulsory in psychiatry curricula; (iii) assessing residents' DP knowledge and clinical use; and (iv) training the trainers/supervisors in both content (DP) and form (how to train/supervise residents). Within didactic training, epistemology of DP and contemporary and classic authors/texts were the highest rated contents, while supervised discussions based on cases, videos, or readings were the highest rated methods. Within clinical training, 8 aspects of DP that could guide the supervisor were highly rated: mental state examination, dialogue, empathy and understanding, attitude/willingness, knowledge-practice bridge, mental symptom formation, implications for decision-making, and the written report of the encounter.

Polygenic contribution to the relationship of loneliness and social isolation with schizophrenia.

Previous research suggests an association of loneliness and social isolation (LNL-ISO) with schizophrenia. Here, we demonstrate a LNL-ISO polygenic score contribution to schizophrenia risk in an independent case-control sample (N = 3,488). We then subset schizophrenia predisposing variation based on its effect on LNL-ISO. We find that genetic variation with concordant effects in both phenotypes shows significant SNP-based heritability enrichment, higher polygenic contribution in females, and positive covariance with mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, alcohol dependence, and autism. Conversely, genetic variation with discordant effects only contributes to schizophrenia risk in males and is negatively correlated with those disorders. Mendelian randomization analyses demonstrate a plausible bi-directional causal relationship between LNL-ISO and schizophrenia, with a greater effect of LNL-ISO liability on schizophrenia than vice versa. These results illustrate the genetic footprint of LNL-ISO on schizophrenia.

Training Psychiatry Residents in Descriptive Psychopathology: A Systematic Review.

PURPOSE: Descriptive psychopathology (DP, sometimes called psychopathology or phenomenology) is the language of psychiatry and is dedicated to the description of mental symptoms. Due to its importance, there is an ongoing case to put it back at the heart of psychiatry and its training. This study seeks to examine the literature on how to train psychiatry residents in DP, including reported educational interventions and educational methods. METHOD: The authors conducted a systematic review following the PRISMA and BEME guidelines to identify literature on how to train psychiatry residents in DP. In May 2019, they searched in Embase, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science; of 7,199 initial results, 26 sources were finally included for analysis. The assessment tools were the CRAAP test, Kirkpatrick's 4 levels, and (when applicable) the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI). RESULTS: The mean CRAAP score was 38.885 of a possible 50 (SD 0.983; range: 36.859-40.910). Fourteen sources (53.8%) had some kind of training evaluation: Kirkpatrick's level 1 was present in nearly all (13) and was the highest in half of them (7). Regarding the educational interventions, the mean MERSQI score was 10.592 of a possible 18 (SD 2.371; range 9.085-12.098). Lectures were the most widely reported educational method (5); among those in clinical settings, the live supervised interview with feedback was the most usual (4). CONCLUSIONS: Despite its core importance as the language of psychiatry, the literature about training psychiatry residents in DP is scarce and heterogeneous. General lack of training evaluation and ongoing overemphasis on Kirkpatrick's levels 1-2 at the expense of levels 3-4 are causes for concern. During the review process, the authors identified a selection of educational interventions that could serve as the basis for the design of new training efforts in both clinical and nonclinical settings. Topics for future research are also suggested, such as the role of DP in competency-based training frameworks now in vogue and a series of neglected contents. Finally, the combined use of the CRAAP test and the MERSQI may be useful for future systematic reviews in medical education.

Multimodal morphometry and functional magnetic resonance imaging in schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations.

AIM: To validate a multimodal [structural and functional magnetic resonance (MR)] approach as coincidence brain clusters are hypothesized to correlate with clinical severity of auditory hallucinations. METHODS: Twenty-two patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fourth edition, DSM-IV) criteria for schizophrenia and experiencing persistent hallucinations together with 28 healthy controls were evaluated with structural and functional MR imaging with an auditory paradigm designed to replicate those emotions related to the patients' hallucinatory experiences. Coincidence maps were obtained by combining structural maps of gray matter reduction with emotional functional increased activation. Abnormal areas were correlated with the brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS) and the psychotic symptom rating scale (PSYRATS) scales. RESULTS: The coincidence analysis showed areas with coexistence gray matter reductions and emotional activation in bilateral middle temporal and superior temporal gyri. Significant negative correlations between BPRS and PSYRATS scales were observed. BPRS scores were negatively correlated in the middle temporal gyrus (right) (t = 6.86, P = 0.001), while negative PSYRATS correlation affected regions in both the superior temporal gyrus (left) (t = 7.85, P = 0.001) and middle temporal gyrus (left) (t = 4.97, P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: Our data identify left superior and middle temporal gyri as relevant areas for the understanding of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia. The use of multimodal approaches, sharing structural and functional information, may demonstrate areas specifically linked to the severity of auditory hallucinations.

Serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms and auditory hallucinations in psychosis.

INTRODUCTION: To study the role of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) in the emotional processing of auditory hallucinations can be particularly important to better understand the pathophysiology of auditory hallucinations. Moreover, a poly-morphism located in this gene (5-HTTLPR) has been previously associated with different disorders related to altered emotional responses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between different polymorphisms of the SLC6A4 gene and different aspects of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenic patients, with a special consideration toward the emotional response to auditory hallucinations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Two samples of 224 patients with auditory hallucinations and 346 healthy subjects were studied. AH were assessed in patients through the PSYRATS scale for auditory hallucinations. Several polymorphisms located within the SLC6A4 gene were analysed through case-control comparisons as well as association analyses with different parameters of auditory hallucinations. RESULTS: No differences were found between patients and controls for any of the analysed polymorphisms (p > 0.05). However, the evaluation of auditory hallucinations parameters showed that the low expressing alleles of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism were associated with higher levels of intensity of the distress caused by auditory hallucinations (p = 0.049 corrected for the item 'intensity of distress'). There was also a trend with the parameter disruption (p = 0.06 corrected). These two items of the PSYRATS scale are directly related to the emotional dimension of auditory hallucinations. In contrast, we did not observe any association with items related to other dimensions of auditory hallucinations. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support a possible role of the serotonin transporter in the emotional response to auditory hallucinations.

Increased amygdala and parahippocampal gyrus activation in schizophrenic patients with auditory hallucinations: an fMRI study using independent component analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia have strong emotional connotations. Functional neuroimaging techniques have been widely used to study brain activity in patients with schizophrenia with hallucinations or emotional impairments. However, few of these studies have investigated the association between hallucinations and emotional dysfunctions using an emotional auditory paradigm. Independent component analysis (ICA) is an analysis method that is especially useful for decomposing activation during complex cognitive tasks in which multiple operations occur simultaneously. Our aim in this study is to analyze brain activation after the presentation of emotional auditory stimuli in patients with schizophrenia with and without chronic auditory hallucinations using ICA methodology. It was hypothesized that functional connectivity differences in limbic regions responsible for emotional processing would be demonstrated. METHODS: The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study compared neural activity in 41 patients with schizophrenia (27 with auditory hallucinations, 14 without auditory hallucinations) with 31 controls. Neural activity data was generated while participants were presented with an auditory paradigm containing emotional words. The comparison was performed using a multivariate approach, ICA. Differences in temporo-spatial aspects of limbic network were examined in three study groups. RESULTS: Limbic networks responded differently in patients with auditory hallucinations compared to healthy controls and patients without auditory hallucinations. Unlike control subjects and non-hallucinators, the group of hallucinatory patients showed an increase of activity in the parahippocampal gyrus and the amygdala during the emotional session. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may reflect an increase in parahippocampal gyrus and amygdala activity during passive listening of emotional words in patients with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations.

MR and genetics in schizophrenia: focus on auditory hallucinations.

Although many structural and functional abnormalities have been related to schizophrenia, until now, no single biological marker has been of diagnostic clinical utility. One way to obtain more valid findings is to focus on the symptoms instead of the syndrome. Auditory hallucinations (AHs) are one of the most frequent and reliable symptoms of psychosis. We present a review of our main findings, using a multidisciplinary approach, on auditory hallucinations. Firstly, by applying a new auditory emotional paradigm specific for psychosis, we found an enhanced activation of limbic and frontal brain areas in response to emotional words in these patients. Secondly, in a voxel-based morphometric study, we obtained a significant decreased gray matter concentration in the insula (bilateral), superior temporal gyrus (bilateral), and amygdala (left) in patients compared to healthy subjects. This gray matter loss was directly related to the intensity of AH. Thirdly, using a new method for looking at areas of coincidence between gray matter loss and functional activation, large coinciding brain clusters were found in the left and right middle temporal and superior temporal gyri. Finally, we summarized our main findings from our studies of the molecular genetics of auditory hallucinations. Taking these data together, an integrative model to explain the neurobiological basis of this psychotic symptom is presented.

Subjective perception of cognitive deficit in psychotic patients.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the subjective perception of cognitive deficit and how it relates to the perception of patients' relatives. Differences between the subjective perception of cognitive deficits in 107 DSM-IV-diagnosed psychotic patients and that of their relatives or caregivers were evaluated using the GEOPTE Scale. Fair agreement was observed between patient and family perception of cognitive functions, although there were important differences on those items that correspond to social functioning. A high degree of correlation was detected between the scores on this scale and clinical global impression scores, as well as the physicians' global impression of cognitive impairment. Psychotic patients maintain insight as to their cognitive deficits, but they fail to conserve an awareness of their perception of social functioning.

FOXP2 polymorphisms in patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: FOXP2 was described as the first gene involved in our ability to acquire spoken language. The main objective of this study was to compare the distribution of FOXP2 gene polymorphisms between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. METHODS: Two FOXP2 polymorphisms, Intron3a and SNP 923875, and the G-->A transition in exon 14 were analysed in 149 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders according to DSM-IV, as well as in 137 controls. All the patients showed a history of auditory hallucinations. RESULTS: The transition G-->A at exon 14, detected in all the affected members in KE family, was not found in any of the analyzed samples from patients or controls. No significant differences were found between individual controls and patients for the two analysed polymorphisms. CONCLUSIONS: This study would not support a possible role of the two FOXP2 analyzed polymorphisms in the vulnerability to schizophrenia.