Treatment of tardive dyskinesia with lecithin.

Six patients with moderate or severe tardive dyskinesia participated in a 14-day double-blind crossover comparison of placebo with 50 g/day of lecithin. There were no side effects, and Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) ratings of videotaped examinations indicated significant improvement in the dyskinesias of all subjects during the lecithin trial, even with concomitant administration of a constant dose of neuroleptic medication to five patients.

Hyponatremic seizures in psychiatric patients.

Thirty-four cases of hyponatremic seizures occurring in psychiatric patients as a result of self-induced water intoxication are reviewed. Clinical and pathophysiological correlates of the condition are outlined.

The syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH): an overview.

We have reviewed 14 cases of water intoxication in psychiatric patients. In these cases the possibility of the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) was suspected or diagnosed. The SIADH should be suspected in psychotic patients who drink water excessively, develop seizures, disorientation and deterioration of mental status.

Naloxone in chronic schizophrenia.

The specific narcotic antagonist naloxone (0.4 milligram) was given intravenously to seven chronic schizophrenics who reported that they had very frequent auditory hallucinations. Saline solution was used as a placebo. The coded study did not reveal any effect of naloxone on hallucinations or on global psychopathology.

Thymus gland involution induced by lithium chloride.

Chronic treatment with lithium chloride produced significant involution of the thymus gland with histological evidence of reduced cellularity due to loss of thymic lymphocytes and a significant reduction in the weight of the gland in normal and adrenalectomized mice. Lithium also increased corticosterone levels in normal mice without changes in adrenal weights. The involution of the thymus gland is most likely due to an effect of lithium on the gland, and it is not mediated by adrenocortical mechanisms or stress.

Conditioning of striatal dopamine metabolism with methadone, morphine or bulbocapnine as an unconditioned stimulus.

Psychotropic drugs such as methadone, morphine and bulbocapnine produce increments in dopamine metabolism as an unconditioned reflex. When a buzzer noise is used as a conditioned stimulus (CS) with these drugs as unconditioned stimuli, the buzzer CS acquires the properties of the drugs in increasing dopamine metabolism. These results suggest that the brain, like other visceral organs, can be conditioned in terms of neurotransmitter release or metabolism.

Prostaglandin E1 causes sedation and increases 5-hydroxytryptamine turnover in rat brain.

1. Administration of prostaglandin E(1) (1 mg/kg, i.p.) to rats induced sedation and a decrease in muscular tone. Prostaglandin E(1)-induced sedation was accompanied by the low voltage-high frequency E.E.G. pattern characteristic of the waking animal.2. Administration of prostaglandin E(1) also increased the turnover rate of 5-hydroxytryptamine and raised the concentration of acetylcholine in brain.3. The behavioural effects of prostaglandin were blocked by prior administration of p-chlorophenylalanine or pargyline, drugs which lowered the brain concentration of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), and was potentiated by pretreatment with probenecid, which elevated the 5-HIAA concentration. Pretreatment with atropine sulphate failed to alter prostaglandin E(1)-induced sedation.4. The results are compatible with the possibility that prostaglandin E(1) induces a state resembling paradoxical sleep through an action on 5-hydroxytryptamine metabolism in brain.