Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0020538 (hypertension)
 170,190 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The author reviews the results of twin studies of schizophrenia from the perspective of recent advances in our understanding of the twin method and of the transmission of schizophrenia. The evidence suggests that twin studies of schizophrenia are not likely to be substantially biased by the greater similarity in social environment of identical versus fraternal twins. Raw concordance figures from twin studies of schizophrenia are quite variable. When models to estimate the etiologic importance of genetic factors are applied to these figures, the results from all studies are similar. According to these models, genetic factors are as etiologically important in schizophrenia as in such medical conditions as diabetes and hypertension. Twin studies of schizophrenia probably provide a valid measure of the major etiologic role genetic factors play in schizophrenia.
 ...
PMID:Overview: a current perspective on twin studies of schizophrenia. 635 48

The authors present a 16-year update on schizophrenia in the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (NAS-NRC) Twin Registry. As of October 1981, a recorded diagnosis of schizophrenia was equally common in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. However, probandwise concordance for schizophrenia was significantly greater in monozygotic (30.9%) than in dizygotic (6.5%) twins. Biases in zygosity determination, diagnosis, or ascertainment could not plausibly explain these results. Correction for selection effects in construction of the registry produced concordance rates for schizophrenia approaching those found in previous studies. According to registry data, genetic factors appear at least as important in the etiology of schizophrenia as in several common medical conditions, including diabetes and hypertension. Results from the NAS-NRC Twin Registry support the etiologic importance of genetic factors in schizophrenia.
 ...
PMID:Schizophrenia in the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Twin Registry: a 16-year update. 668 80

The common theoretical speculation that alexithymic personality characteristics (impoverished fantasy life and difficulty expressing feelings verbally) lead to psychosomatic disease was tested in a sample of 181 men. Unlike previous investigations, this study used a measure of alexithymic characteristics taken at least 1 year before any of the men became ill. Comparisons were made of the premorbid MMPI alexithymia scale scores of groups of men who remained well for 10 years or within 10 years developed either physical illness (cancer or benign tumors), "classical" psychosomatic disease (hypertension or gastrointestinal ulcers), or psychiatric disorder (schizophrenia). Results did not support the notion that alexithymia leads to illness onset. There were no significant differences among the groups in their premorbid alexithymia scores. Furthermore, the groups did not differ in the percentage of individuals labeled alexithymic with the use of previously established cut-off points. Although the findings cast doubt on alexithymia as a cause of illness, they do not conflict with the idea that alexithymia can result from the stress of disease or that this type of personality configuration may lead to a decreased response to treatment and a prolonged course of illness.
 ...
PMID:Do alexithymic traits predict illness? 685 90

Phencyclidine (PCP), a widely abused drug currently, has multiple pharmacological actions, including psychotomimetic [1], anesthetic [2], sympathomimetic [2], anticholinergic [3-7], and dopaminergic [8-10]. Similarly, PCP intoxication in man can present with diverse symptoms: schizophrenia-like delusions and hallucinations; mania; violence, dyskinetic, catatonic, or stereotyped movements; hypertension; and coma [11, 12]. There is general agreement that the treatment of PCP intoxication includes support of vital functions and acidification of the urine [13]. However, there is no known specific antidote for PCP toxicity. Although diazepam [13], haloperidol [14, 15], and chlorpromazine [16] have been reported to improve the agitation and psychotic symptoms caused by PCP, the therapeutic efficacy of these agents has rarely been documented with objective clinical measures. Recently we found that intramuscular physostigmine and haloperidol [17, 18] improved several symptoms of acute PCP intoxication as measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) [19].
 ...
PMID:Phencyclidine intoxication: assessment of possible antidotes. 713 17

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36-amino acid peptide belonging to the pancreatic polypeptide family that has marked and diverse biological activity across species. NPY originally was isolated from mammalian brain tissue somewhat more than 10 years ago and, since that time, has been the subject of numerous scientific publications. NPY and its proposed three receptors (Y1, Y2 and Y3) are relatively abundant in and uniquely distributed throughout the brain and spinal cord. This review will highlight the results from a number of research-oriented studies that have examined how NPY is involved in CNS function and behavior, and how these studies may relate to the possible development of medicines, either NPY-like agonists or antagonists, directed towards the treatment of disorders such as anxiety, pain, hypertension, schizophrenia, memory dysfunction, abnormal eating behavior and depression.
 ...
PMID:Central nervous system pharmacology of neuropeptide Y. 764 68

1. A sample of 165 schizophrenic subjects was compared to a normal control group in order to evaluate associations between white matter hyperintensity signals and vascular risk factors. 2. A comprehensive medical chart review was completed on all subjects evaluating potential vascular risk factors. Brain MRI acquisition was performed with 0.5 and 1.5 Telsa Philips scanners. 3. Prevalence rates of WMH signals in schizophrenic subjects and normal controls were 4.8% and 4.9%, respectively. 4. A significant association was found for schizophrenics with WHM signals to schizophrenics without signals for hypertension and history of CVA's. 5. This finding is consistent with an etiology of WMH signals in schizophrenia being related to vascular disease.
 ...
PMID:White matter hyperintensity signals associated with vascular risk factors in schizophrenia. 770 30

A 39-year-old female with chronic schizophrenia underwent an emergency caesarean section under general anesthesia at her 39th week of gestation. A diagnosis of schizophrenia was made at 28 years of age and since then oral antipsychotic drugs, haloperidol and levomepromazine had been given orally. She had only taken haloperidol 4 mg per day between the 12th week of gestation and the day of surgery. At the 39th week of gestation, she developed a marked excitement which would have caused fetal distress. We decided to terminate her gestation. As the excitement was diagnosed as psychokinesis, we avoided using phenothiazine which might affect fetus and administered haloperidol 5 mg intramuscularly 210 and 30 minutes before emergency caesarean section. Anesthesia was induced with intravenous thiopental 300 mg and suxamethonium 60 mg. Pentazocine 30 mg in combination with nitrous oxide 70% in oxygen was given for the maintenance of anesthesia. During operation blood pressure was 160-180/80-90 mmHg, the heart rate was 90-100 beats.min-1. Hypertension and tachycardia might have been partially due to preoperative haloperidol. The induction-delivery time was 4 minutes 30 seconds. Plasma haloperidol levels were 23.8 ng.ml-1 in maternal venous blood and 8.8 ng.ml-1 in umbilical vein just after the delivery. The Apgar score was 7 at one minute and 8 at five minutes after delivery. The baby developed slight muscle weakness and poor sucking for two days after delivery and this was supposedly due to effect of preoperative haloperidol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:[Emergency caesarean section for a patient with chronic schizophrenia]. 796 30

In the present study we have investigated, using radioligand binding techniques and the dopamine receptor antagonist [3H]SCH 23390 as a ligand, the existence of specific dopamine D1-like receptors in human peripheral blood lymphocytes. [3H]SCH 23390 binding to human peripheral blood lymphocytes was time-, temperature-, concentration-dependent and of high affinity with a dissociation constant value (Kd) of 0.58 +/- 0.05 nM and a maximum binding density (Bmax) of 11.02 +/- 0.3 fmol/5 x 10(6) cells. The binding was also reversible. Pharmacological analysis displacement curves of [3H]SCH 23390 binding with dopamine competing with the radioligand in the submicromolar range suggests that peripheral blood lymphocytes express dopamine D5 receptors rather than dopamine D1 receptors. These results, which are consistent with studies performed with molecular biology techniques, suggest that dopamine may modulate peripheral blood lymphocyte activity. Radioligand binding techniques, applied to lymphocyte receptor studies for their feasibility and flexibility may be used to investigate the possible relationship between the immune and dopaminergic systems. Moreover, they could be employed as a tool in Parkinson's disease, migraine, schizophrenia and hypertension research.
 ...
PMID:Dopamine D5 receptors in human peripheral blood lymphocytes: a radioligand binding study. 805 Dec 91

Clozapine is an atypical neuroleptic medication with superior efficacy to conventional antipsychotic agents for patients with chronic, symptomatic schizophrenia. Neurochemical characteristics that distinguish clozapine from other neuroleptics and contribute to its differential efficacy are not known. We assessed the effects of clozapine on plasma levels of norepinephrine (NE) in a double-blind, parallel groups comparison of clozapine (n = 11) and haloperidol (n = 15) in chronic schizophrenic outpatients who had been previously treated with fluphenazine. Simultaneous measurements were obtained for plasma levels of the catecholamine precursor dopa, the dopamine metabolite dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), the NE metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol (DHPG), adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), cortisol, and hemodynamic parameters. Clozapine produced marked increases (471%) in plasma NE levels, whereas haloperidol had no significant effects on plasma NE levels. Clozapine also increased dopa and tended to increase DOPAC levels, without effects on DHPG, ACTH, or cortisol levels and without consistent changes in blood pressure. Across patients, the magnitude of clozapine-induced increments in plasma NE levels was positively related to improvement in positive symptoms and global symptomatology and was unrelated to the occurrence of extrapyramidal symptoms. The results suggest that clozapine differs importantly from other neuroleptics in increasing plasma NE levels, with the peripheral noradrenergic stimulation related to its superior efficacy profile. The unchanged DHPG levels and absence of hypertension suggest a more complex mechanism of action of clozapine than heightened NE release alone.
 ...
PMID:The effect of clozapine on plasma norepinephrine: relationship to clinical efficacy. 817 90

Exaggerated intracellular calcium responses to challenges with serotonin (5-HT) have been reported in depression. In our studies, consistent with previous reports, patients with depression exhibited an exaggerated increase in 5-HT-stimulated intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca++]i). Basal cytosolic calcium was elevated in both calcium-free and 1 mM calcium media in depressed patients. the increased responsiveness to 5-HT was seen in both conditions. Patients with schizophrenia and substance abuse did not differ from normal controls. The 5-HT response was correlated with diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.33, p = 0.02): however, this association did not fully account for the exaggerated [Ca++]i responses in the depressed group. These findings suggest that exaggerated increases in [Ca++]i in response to serotonin are a characteristic of depressed patients not shared with schizophrenic and substance abuse patients. The relationship of depression to hypertension, two conditions that share abnormalities of calcium homeostasis, warrants further study.
 ...
PMID:Serotonin-induced increases in platelet cytosolic calcium concentration in depressed, schizophrenic, and substance abuse patients. 873 58


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>