Stocktake of Australasian Psychiatry's training resources.

OBJECTIVE: To identify all past publications from Australasian Psychiatry with subject matter particularly relevant for trainees. The results of such a search could then be collated into an easily accessible resource available to trainees and their supervisors. METHOD: An electronic search of the journal's back catalogue was conducted. RESULTS: Eighty-seven articles published on subjects particularly relevant for trainees were discovered from within Australasian Psychiatry. In particular, multiple useful resources were identified on the topics of the scholarly project and formulation skills. CONCLUSIONS: Australasian Psychiatry has published a wealth of literature that is likely to be of significant benefit for trainees as they work their way through the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists training programme.

Neurobiology and Therapeutic Potential of Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) Inhibitors for Inflammation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, are associated with significant illness burden. Accumulating evidence supports an association between these disorders and inflammation. Consequently, anti-inflammatory agents, such as the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, represent a novel avenue to prevent and treat neuropsychiatric illness. In this paper, we first review the role of inflammation in psychiatric pathophysiology including inflammatory cytokines' influence on neurotransmitters, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and microglial mechanisms. We then discuss how cyclooxygenase-2-inhibitors influence these pathways with potential therapeutic benefit, with a focus on celecoxib, due to its superior safety profile. A search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and PsychINFO databases, in addition to Clinicaltrials.gov and the Stanley Medical Research Institute trial registries. The results were presented as a narrative review. Currently available outcomes for randomized controlled trials up to November 2017 are also discussed. The evidence reviewed here suggests cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, and in particular celecoxib, may indeed assist in treating the symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders; however, further studies are required to assess appropriate illness stage-related indication.

Putative neuroprotective pharmacotherapies to target the staged progression of mental illness.

AIM: Neuropsychiatric disorders including depression, bipolar and schizophrenia frequently exhibit a neuroprogressive course from prodrome to chronicity. There are a range of agents exhibiting capacity to attenuate biological mechanisms associated with neuroprogression. This review will update the evidence for putative neuroprotective agents including clinical efficacy, mechanisms of action and limitations in current assessment tools, and identify novel agents with neuroprotective potential. METHOD: Data for this review were sourced from online databases PUBMED, Embase and Web of Science. Only data published since 2012 were included in this review, no data were excluded based on language or publication origin. RESULTS: Each of the agents reviewed inhibit one or multiple pathways of neuroprogression including: inflammatory gene expression and cytokine release, oxidative and nitrosative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, neurotrophin dysregulation and apoptotic signalling. Some demonstrate clinical efficacy in preventing neural damage or loss, relapse or cognitive/functional decline. Agents include: the psychotropic medications lithium, second generation antipsychotics and antidepressants; other pharmacological agents such as minocycline, aspirin, cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, statins, ketamine and alpha-2-delta ligands; and others such as erythropoietin, oestrogen, leptin, N-acetylcysteine, curcumin, melatonin and ebselen. CONCLUSIONS: Signals of evidence of clinical neuroprotection are evident for a number of candidate agents. Adjunctive use of multiple agents may present a viable avenue to clinical realization of neuroprotection. Definitive prospective studies of neuroprotection with multimodal assessment tools are required.