Association between serotonin 2C receptor gene (HTR2C) polymorphisms and psychopathological symptoms in children and adolescents.

Serotonin 2C receptors (5HT2C) are involved in serotonin-driven dynamic equilibrium adjustments responsible for homeostatic stability in brain structures that modulate behavior and emotions. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the serotonin 2C receptor gene (HTR2C) have been associated with several neurological and mental disorders, including abnormalities in cognitive and emotional processes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the rs6318 SNP of the HTR2C gene and behavioral characteristics exhibited by children and adolescents based on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18) inventory. Eighty-five psychiatric outpatients between 8 and 18 years of age underwent genotyping of the rs6318 SNP. The CBCL/6-18 scale was administered to their caregivers. The chi-squared test was used to assess differences in the frequency of C and G alleles of the rs6318 SNP relative to the grouped CBCL/6-18 scores; significance level was 5%. The presence of the G allele of rs6318 was found to be associated with characteristics of aggressive behavior and social problems, and aggressive behavior was found to be associated with heterozygosis in females. These findings contribute to the identification of mental and behavioral phenotypes associated with gene expression.

Association between serotonin 2C receptor gene (HTR2C) polymorphisms and psychopathological symptoms in children and adolescents

Serotonin 2C receptors (5HT2C) are involved in serotonin-driven dynamic equilibrium adjustments responsible for homeostatic stability in brain structures that modulate behavior and emotions. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the serotonin 2C receptor gene (HTR2C) have been associated with several neurological and mental disorders, including abnormalities in cognitive and emotional processes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the rs6318 SNP of the HTR2C gene and behavioral characteristics exhibited by children and adolescents based on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/6-18) inventory. Eighty-five psychiatric outpatients between 8 and 18 years of age underwent genotyping of the rs6318 SNP. The CBCL/6-18 scale was administered to their caregivers. The chi-squared test was used to assess differences in the frequency of C and G alleles of the rs6318 SNP relative to the grouped CBCL/6-18 scores; significance level was 5%. The presence of the G allele of rs6318 was found to be associated with characteristics of aggressive behavior and social problems, and aggressive behavior was found to be associated with heterozygosis in females. These findings contribute to the identification of mental and behavioral phenotypes associated with gene expression.

História e psicopatologia do transtorno borderline: da esquizofrenia latente aos transtornos de personalidade / History and psychopathology of borderline disorder: from latent schizophrenia to personality disorders

No presente trabalho é feita uma revisao histórica e psicopatológica do distúrbio borderline. O autor sugere que a categoria clínica introduzida por Kahlbaum, em 1890, chamada "Heboidophrenie", pode ser considerada como um protoconceito na origem do conceito de transtorno borderline. No final dos anos 70 e anos 80, sob a influência do DSM-III, a esquizofrenia latente ou borderline se transforma em dois subtipos de transtorno de personalidade: esquizotípico e borderline. Alguns aspectos psicopatológicos do distúrbio borderline de personalidade sao revistos, com especial ênfase sobre os sintomas afetivos e as alteraçoes no plano da interaçao social.

[Religious affiliation and mental health in Brazil]. / Afiliación religiosa y enfermedad mental en Brasil.

Religiosity is a complex and fundamental socio-cultural phenomenon. Its possible positive or negative influence on the ethiology and treatment of mental illness remains controversial. Evangelical sects, specially the Pentecostals, have expanded dramatically in the last 40 years, in Latin America. Until now, the socio-cultural implications of this process have not been systematically studied. In the present study a group of patients admitted to a psychiatric unit in a general hospital in Campinas, Brazil, was investigated. Diagnosis distribution and length of hospital stay was related to religion affiliation. More functional psychosis and a shorter length of stay was found in the Pentecostal group. Possible implications of these findings are critically discussed.

Notas sobre uma psicopatologia a partir do pensamento de Henri Bergson / Notes about a psychopathology from Henri Bergson thinking

No presente trabalho säo apresentadas algumas das contribuiçöes da filosofia do pensador francês Henri Bergson (1859-1941) para a psicopatologia. Diferentes aspectos da evoluçÒo do pensamento de Bergson säo apresentados, particularmente suas concepçöes do tempo e da intuiçäo. Nesse sentido o dualismo bergsoniano, que contrapöe o tempo cronológico ao tempo vivido e a inteligência à intuiçäo, serve de modelo a uma aproximaçÒo epistemologicamente aceitável entre a psicopatologia médica e objetivista de um lado e a psicopatologia subjetivista (p.ex. a fenomenologia existencial e a psicanálise) do lado oposto.

Organic factors and the clinical features of late paranoid psychosis: a comparison with Alzheimer's disease and normal ageing.

The diagnostic allocation and aetiological basis of paranoid psychoses with late onset is controversial. We examined the clinical features of patients with a diagnosis of paranoid psychosis and we compared their cranial computed tomography (CT) scans and electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings with findings from matched samples of patients with Alzheimer's disease and non-demented elderly controls. During a 5-year period, 81 patients (15 men and 66 women) with a diagnosis of paranoid psychosis and onset after age 50 were referred to our Institute. They represent 5.4% of the patients older than 50 admitted during the same period. More than half of these patients had first-rank symptoms. The ventricles, anterior and sylvian fissures of the paranoid group were larger than in non-demented controls but smaller than in Alzheimer's disease. The posterior dominant alpha EEG rhythm was slower than in normal aging and faster than in Alzheimer's dementia. If paranoid patients with first-rank symptoms were distinguished from the ones without, the former had less severe brain atrophy and faster posterior dominant rhythm, although they received higher doses of neuroleptics. This could be explained by the existence of at least 2 subgroups of late paranoid psychosis: late-onset schizophrenia and organic paranoid syndrome, the former characterized by first-rank symptoms and less severe brain atrophy, the latter by more severe EEG and CT scan changes with a closer resemblance to degenerative brain disease.

Basal ganglia abnormalities in tardive dyskinesia. Possible relationship with duration of neuroleptic treatment.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate CT abnormalities in tardive dyskinesia (TD) and to search for possible relationships with clinical data. A group of 30 psychotic patients (15 schizophrenic and 15 affective disorder) with TD was compared to a matched group of 30 psychiatric patients without TD and a matched group of 30 healthy controls. CT data were analyzed using two multivariate statistical methods [multidimensional scaling (MDS) and step-wise discriminant analysis]. MDS clearly separated both TD and non-TD groups from the healthy control group on the basis of CT parameters. Caudate left area reduction and left temporal sulci enlargement were the most important parameters that discriminated TD from non-TD patients. Only in TD-patients did caudate left area reduction and left temporal sulci enlargement correlate significantly with cumulative duration of psychiatric hospitalizations. The data of the present study support the findings of structural abnormalities in the caudate nucleus and in the temporal lobe of patients with TD. These abnormalities were especially marked in the left hemisphere. It is assumed that some factor related to longer psychiatric hospital treatment (e.g. neuroleptic intake) could account for these abnormalities.

Afiliación religiosa y enfermedad mental en Brasil / [Religious affiliation and mental health in Brazil]

Religiosity is a complex and fundamental socio-cultural phenomenon. Its possible positive or negative influence on the ethiology and treatment of mental illness remains controversial. Evangelical sects, specially the Pentecostals, have expanded dramatically in the last 40 years, in Latin America. Until now, the socio-cultural implications of this process have not been systematically studied. In the present study a group of patients admitted to a psychiatric unit in a general hospital in Campinas, Brazil, was investigated. Diagnosis distribution and length of hospital stay was related to religion affiliation. More functional psychosis and a shorter length of stay was found in the Pentecostal group. Possible implications of these findings are critically discussed.

Afiliación religiosa y enfermedad mental en Brasil. / [Religious affiliation and mental health in Brazil]

Religiosity is a complex and fundamental socio-cultural phenomenon. Its possible positive or negative influence on the ethiology and treatment of mental illness remains controversial. Evangelical sects, specially the Pentecostals, have expanded dramatically in the last 40 years, in Latin America. Until now, the socio-cultural implications of this process have not been systematically studied. In the present study a group of patients admitted to a psychiatric unit in a general hospital in Campinas, Brazil, was investigated. Diagnosis distribution and length of hospital stay was related to religion affiliation. More functional psychosis and a shorter length of stay was found in the Pentecostal group. Possible implications of these findings are critically discussed.

Religious affiliation and psychiatric diagnosis: the influence of Christian sect membership on diagnosis distribution.

Minority religions, sects and cults are an increasingly common socio-cultural phenomenon, of which the effects concerning mental health and illness are still poorly understood. In the present study, we compared socio-demographical and clinical characteristics between members of Christian sects and the remaining general inpatient population admitted to a psychiatric clinic in Germany between 1978 and 1991. In comparison to the general patient population, Christian sect patients presented significantly more frequently with a diagnosis of functional psychoses (P < 0.02) and less frequently with diagnoses of neuroses (P < 0.10). Dissimilarities among sub-cultural groups in help-seeking behavior are suggested to explain the heterogeneous diagnoses distribution found in the study.

A psychiatric unit in a general hospital in Brazil: predictors of length of stay.

The planning and organization of mental health care in developing countries frequently lacks empirical data. The World Health Organization recommended psychiatric brief inpatient programs in general hospitals for these countries as a cost-effective alternative to the traditional mental hospital. Length of hospital stay is a crucial factor in a cost-effective mental health care organization. In a newly organized psychiatric inpatient unit in a general teaching hospital in Brazil we investigated the influence of 16 socio-demographic and clinical variables on the length of stay. Distance from residence to hospital (P less than 0.10), clinical diagnosis (P less than 0.05) and religious affiliation (P less than 0.05) were significantly related to length of stay. Possible mental health care implications of this short stay program are discussed.

Abnormalities in serum concentrations of interleukin-2, interferon-alpha and interferon-gamma in schizophrenia not detected.

The hypothesis of an immunological defect in schizophrenia has been supported by reports on abnormal production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferons (IFNs) in schizophrenic patients. In the present study we determined the serum concentrations of IL-2, IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma in 10 first onset, neuroleptic-naive schizophrenics, in 6 pretreated patients who were drug free (1 week to 2 years) at the time of the investigation and in 15 matched healthy controls. No IFN-alpha was detected in schizophrenics' and in control sera. No differences were found in IL-2 and IFN-gamma levels between schizophrenics and controls. Thus the present study failed to support the hypothesis of an immunological abnormality in schizophrenia on the basis of the determination of IL-2 and IFNs serum levels.

Propoxifeno: dependência física e intoxicaçäo / Propoxyphene: physical dependence and intoxication

Existe atualmente grande preocupaçäo em relaçäo ao consumo crescente de drogas. Algumas dessas drogas säo usadas em medicina e apresentam maior potencial para o desenvolvimento de dependência e intoxicaçäo. A partir de aspectos observados em seu serviço, os autores alertam para o perigo do uso näo-médico de propoxifeno. Descrevem alguns pontos da farmacologia, dependência física e intoxicaçäo por esse analgésico. Recomendam seu uso criterioso em casos de pacientes com tendência suicida ou propensos à toxicomania e alcoolismo