[Clinical-genetic parameters and the nosological evaluation of schizoaffective psychosis in systematics of attack-like endogenous psychoses].

Authors studied 1013 first- and second degree relatives in families of 193 probands. The probands were stratified by clinical diagnosis into 6 groups: 1) nuclear variant of schizoaffective psychosis (SAP); 2) "marginal" (intermediate) variant of SAP; 3) schizoaffective variant of schizophrenia; 4) recurrent schizophrenia; 5) attack-like progressive schizophrenia; 6) bipolar affective disorder or manic-depressive psychosis (MDP). Probands (n=109) and their relatives were studied using the direct clinical examination; the study of 84 probands and their relatives was based on the medical records from the genetic archive of Mental Health Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. Mental pathology was found in 72,5% of relatives; 27,5% were healthy. Prevalence of endogenous and non-endogenous psychoses, personality disorders and cases of alcoholism and suicides in the families of probands was studied. A "set" of these psychopathologies was similar in families of all probands and their frequency was higher than that in the general population that confirmed the affiliation of SAP with endogenous diseases by genetic characteristics. In patients with SAP, hereditary characteristics differed by the frequency, correlation and preference of some types of mental pathology compared to families of patients with schizophrenia and MDP, in particular, hereditary characteristics of patients with recurrent schizophrenia and MDP which were identified with SAP by many authors. The clinical-genetic patterns revealed in the study are considered as an argument for nosological independence of SAP.

[Preventive efficacy of tianeptine in recurrent depression with frequent exacerbations]. / Profilakticheskaia éffektivnost' tianeptina pri rekurrentnoi depressii s chastymi obostreniiami.

The results of the studies of 4 Russian research centers are summarized. Tianeptine (coaxil) was used in the treatment of 55 patients with ICD-10 diagnosis of recurrent depressive disorder (F32.1), 50 patients have completely finished the treatment. Tianeptine was assigned in dosage of 12.5 mg 3 times daily (patients over 65 years old received 25.0 mg daily) during 12 months. The drug was shown to have a high preventive efficacy for the disorder. Sixty-one percent of patients were full-responders. Taken together with partial responders (13%), an improvement was observed in 74% patients. The drug demonstrated a well tolerability with a rare and mild expression of side-effects.