Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Oct 2013
ReviewAntioxidants as potential therapeutics for neuropsychiatric disorders.
Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression etc. Both genetic and non-genetic factors have been found to cause increased cellular levels of reactive oxygen species beyond the capacity of antioxidant defense mechanism in patients of psychiatric disorders. These factors trigger oxidative cellular damage to lipids, proteins and DNA, leading to abnormal neural growth and differentiation. ⋯ The use of antioxidants and PUFAs as supplements in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders has provided some promising results. At the same time, one should be cautious with the use of antioxidants since excessive antioxidants could dangerously interfere with some of the protective functions of reactive oxygen species. The present article will give an overview of the potential strategies and outcomes of using antioxidants as therapeutics in psychiatric disorders.
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Oct 2013
Abnormal gray and white matter volume in delusional infestation.
Little is known about the neural basis of delusional infestation (DI), the delusional belief to be infested with pathogens. Case series and the response to anti-dopaminergic medication indicate disruptions in dopaminergic neurotransmission in the striatum (caudate, putamen), but did not allow for population-based inference. Here, we report the first whole-brain structural neuroimaging study to investigate gray and white matter abnormalities in DI compared to controls. ⋯ Lower gray matter volume in DI patients compared to controls was found in left medial, lateral and right superior frontal cortices, left anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral insula, left thalamus, right striatal areas and in lateral and medial temporal cortical regions (p<0.05, cluster-corrected). Higher white matter volume in DI patients compared to controls was found in right middle cingulate, left frontal opercular and bilateral striatal regions (p<0.05, cluster-corrected). This study shows that structural changes in prefrontal, temporal, insular, cingulate and striatal brain regions are associated with DI, supporting a neurobiological model of disrupted prefrontal control over somato-sensory representations.
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Oct 2013
Is there a cerebellar compensatory effort in first-episode, treatment-naive major depressive disorder at rest?
This study was undertaken to explore whether there is a cerebellar compensatory response in patients with first-episode, treatment-naive major depressive disorder (MDD). The cerebellar compensatory response is defined as a cerebellar hyperactivity which would be inversely correlated with both the activation of the functionally connected cerebral regions and the depression severity. ⋯ Our findings suggest that increased cerebellar activity at resting state may be a disease state phenomenon but not a compensatory response to the dysfunction of the default mode network (DMN) in MDD.
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Oct 2013
Morphometric brain characterization of refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder: diffeomorphic anatomic registration using exponentiated Lie algebra.
Few studies have used neuroimaging to characterize treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study sought to explore gray matter structure in patients with treatment-refractory OCD and compare it with that of healthy controls. ⋯ Our findings provide new evidence of deficits in gray matter density in treatment-refractory OCD patients. These patients may show characteristic density abnormalities in the left PCC, MD and dorsal striatum (putamen), which should be verified in longitudinal studies.
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Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry · Oct 2013
Effects of ifenprodil on the antidepressant-like activity of NMDA ligands in the forced swim test in mice.
Multiple pre-clinical and clinical studies clearly displayed implication of the NMDA receptors in development of depressive disorders since a variety of NMDA receptor antagonists exhibit an antidepressant-like effect. The main aim of our study was to assess the influence of ifenprodil - an allosteric modulator selectively binding at the NR2B subunit on the performance in the forced swim test in mice of various NMDA receptor ligands interacting with distinct components of the NMDA receptor complex. ⋯ On the other hand, the antidepressant-like effect of ifenprodil (20mg/kg) was reversed by N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (an agonist at the glutamate site, 75mg/kg) or d-serine (an agonist at the glycine site, 100nmol/mouse). In conclusion, the antidepressant-like potential of ifenprodil given concomitantly with NMDA ligands was either reinforced (in the case of both partial agonist and antagonists, except for magnesium and zinc) or diminished (in the case of conventional full agonists).