Poor performance in smooth pursuit and antisaccadic eye-movement tasks in healthy siblings of patients with schizophrenia.

This study examines the area of eye movement dysfunctions as an indicator of vulnerability to schizophrenia. Eye movement performance was investigated with three different paradigms: Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements (SPEM); Visually Guided Saccades (VGS); and Antisaccades (AS) in 21 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia, 21 of their healthy, biological full siblings and 21 healthy control subjects. The three groups did not differ on VGS performance, whereas both patients and their siblings showed lower SPEM gain, an increased catch-up Saccades (CUS) rate, reduced AS accuracy and an increased number of AS errors in comparison to control subjects. In addition, patients with schizophrenia exhibited increased AS latency. Among the patients with schizophrenia, eye movement abnormalities did not correlate with age, gender, clinical state or duration of illness. These data suggest that abnormalities of SPEM and AS may represent neurobiological markers of the vulnerability to schizophrenia in individuals at high genetic risk for the disease.

Alteration of event related potentials in siblings discordant for schizophrenia.

This study was aimed at confirming that auditory event related potential (ERP) abnormalities are indicators of vulnerability to schizophrenia. Auditory ERP performances were assessed at Fz, Cz, and Pz, with an oddball paradigm, in 21 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia, 21 of their healthy biological full siblings and 21 control subjects. The evoked response did not differ between the three groups on N200 waves. Compared to controls, patients with schizophrenia exhibited reduced amplitudes of N100 and P300, and prolonged latency of P300, while their siblings showed prolonged latency of P200 and P300. Among the patients with schizophrenia, ERP abnormalities did not correlate with age, clinical state, duration of illness or antipsychotic treatments. Although other conditions also accounted for alterations of the same type, ERP abnormalities may represent a neurobiological marker of the genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia, independent of phenotypic expression.

[Vulnerability to schizophrenia. II: Familial status of auditory evoked potential abnormalities]. / Vulnérabilité à la schizophrénie. II: Nature familiale des anomalies des potentiels évoqués endogènes auditifs.

The existence of a genetic background is well admitted in schizophrenia, but some individuals at genetic risk for that disease could never manifest it at a clinical level. However, several vulnerability models could help us to identify such individuals. According to them, when similar perturbations at a given task are observed both in clinically stable patients with schizophrenia and their nonschizophrenic first degree relatives, this task could be qualify as an indicator of the vulnerability to schizophrenia. In literature, that seems the case for auditory ERP late components in oddball paradigms. Our study was undertaken to replicate literature data. For that purpose, amplitude and latencies of auditory N100, P200, N200 and P300 wave-forms were assessed among 21 clinically, stable schizophrenics, 21 of their biological full siblings and 21 unrelated control subjects matched with the two others groups for several socio-demographic factors. Comparison were performed by non parametric analyses (Kruskal-Wallis one way ANOVA, and post-hoc Mann-Whitney). Compared to controls, delayed latencies and/or reduced amplitudes were observed for several ERP components--mainly with P300--in the sibling group. ERP values from this group did not statistically differ from those of the group with schizophrenia. In conclusion, results from the sibling group suggest that ERP impairments in auditory oddball paradigms may actually represent indicators of the genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia.

[Translation and French adaptation of the Raine Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire]. / Traduction et adaptation française du questionnaire de personnalité schizotypique de Raine (SPQ).

Most of existing self-report measures of schizotypal personality assess only few of the nine traits of schizotypal personality disorder according to DSM III-R or DSM IV. Adrian Raine has developed a self-report scale named "Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, [SPQ]" to evaluate all these traits. The questionnaire was found to have high sampling validity, high internal reliability [0.91] and test-retest reliability [0.82]. However, the SPQ was still not available in French. Therefore, the first purpose of this report was to offer a French translation of this tool with the agreement of A. Raine for both translated version and its back translation. The second purpose of our study was to establish French norms. The preliminary norms presented here were obtained by administering the SPQ to a sample of 134 French students of both gender (mean age: 20.11 +/- 1.53 years; mean educational level: 13.39 +/- 1.04 years). On that sample, the minimal score was 2/74 and the maximal one 54/74 (mean of the sample: 23.60 +/- 12.09). With the original English study, based on a sample of American students, the cut-offs for the top and the bottom ten percents of SPQ scores were respectively of 41/74 and 12/74. Very close preliminary cut-offs were observed in our own study i.e. respectively 40/74 and 9/74. We will confirm them in a larger sample.

The Effect of Agmatine on Ischemic and Nonischemic Isolated Rat Heart.

OBJECTIVE: the natural polyamines play a protective role during ischemic injury. We studied the effects of agmatine on ischemic and nonischemic isolated rat hearts. METHODS: Thirty-one rats were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups. Sixteen rats were injected with saline (group 1, n = 9; group 3, n = 7), and 15 rats were injected with 100 mg/kg of agmatine (group 2, n = 8; group 4, n = 7). Injections were given twice: 24 hours and 1 hour before the experiment. Using the modified Langendorf model, rat hearts were perfused with Krebs-Henseleit solution for 105 minutes during phase 1 of the experiment (groups 1 and 2). During phase 2, hearts were exposed to 45 minutes of global ischemia (groups 3 and 4). RESULTS: During phase 1, no statistically significant differences were observed between the agmatine and the control groups. During phase 2, agmatine caused a significant increase in left ventricular pressure (P <.003). At the end of reperfusion, P(max) was 111% +/- 10% from the baseline levels versus only 82% +/- 5% in the control group. After 20 minutes of reperfusion, dP/dt (first-time derivative of the ventricular pressure) in the agmatine group reached full recovery of 106% +/- 12% versus only 64% +/- 14% in the saline group (P =.059). Agmatine also caused a significant increase in coronary flow rate (P <.004) throughout the reperfusion period. Quantitative immunohistochemical staining disclosed reduced cell damage in the agmatine-treated hearts (P <.02) versus the control group. CONCLUSION: Agmatine injection given before induced ischemia improves hemodynamic recovery by mechanisms that may be attributed to its vasodilatory properties.

Specific transfer factor protects mice against lethal challenge with herpes simplex virus.

Bovine transfer factor (TFd) specific to herpes simplex virus (HSV)1 or to HSV2 was prepared by immunizing calves with the corresponding virus. The TFd preparations were then injected into Swiss mice in an attempt to protect them against a subsequent lethal challenge with HSV1 or HSV2 virus. It was thus shown that injection of anti-HSV TFd protects the mice against the corresponding HSV virus, whereas the injection of a nonspecific TFd (anti-CMV) fails to protect against a challenge with HSV1. Furthermore, a dose-response effect was observed, since potent TFd preparations were ineffective when they were used at one-fifth of the original concentration. It seems, therefore, that animal models may be used to assay the potency of TFd preparations specific for herpes viruses.

[Treatment of herpes infections with transfer factor]. / Traitement des infections herpétiques par le facteur de transfert.

Twelve patients suffering from recurrent herpetic infections resistant to several current therapies were treated for a 3 to 10 months period with a bovine transfer factor specific to Herpes simplex virus of type 1 and 2. The results obtained showed that this treatment was capable of dramatically reducing the intensity, duration and frequency of the relapses. This preliminary clinical trial suggests that specific transfer factor administered orally could be an effective treatment of herpes infections.