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Query: UMLS:C0036341 (schizophrenia)
 60,220 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Factor analytical studies of schizophrenia symptoms have consistently suggested three or more symptom dimensions, but it is not known whether any of these dimensions have a genetic basis. The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent the dimensions show familial aggregation. Symptom ratings were made using the SAPS and SANS and the OPCRIT checklist on the members of 109 sibling pairs with DSM-IV schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Factor analyses were performed on the ratings of both instruments, and correlations were made of within-pair factor scores. Analyses were also performed on the 89 pairs in which both members had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Factor analysis of SAPS and SANS ratings resulted in positive, negative, and disorganization factors; analysis of OPCRIT ratings resulted in positive, negative, disorganization, and first-rank delusion factors. Only the disorganization dimension showed significant within-pair correlations, but these were of modest size and not significantly greater than the correlations for the other dimensions. None of the dimensions showed sufficient familial aggregation to suggest that they are close markers of genetic or common environmental factors that contribute liability to schizophrenia. They may be weakly associated with such factors and with factors that do not contribute liability to schizophrenia but do influence the form taken by the illness.
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PMID:Dimensions of psychosis in affected sibling pairs. 1066 52

Recent reports from serial brain scans suggest that the rate of ventricular expansion and/or brain atrophy may be accelerated in at least some schizophrenics. The authors assessed the effect of state changes upon such findings.Within-subject 3D MRIs were assessed for ventricular and brain volumes during periods of [partial] remission and of exacerbation of psychosis. Additional scans at comparable within-subject SAPS were used to assess rates of change in volumes that were independent of SAPS changes. Correlations of changes of ventricle and brain volumes vs. change of SAPS cores between scans revealed that ventricle volumes decreased during a period of psychotic exacerbation and increased at a time of [partial] remission (r(p)=-0.666; P<0.0005); conversely, brain volumes increased during psychotic exacerbation and decreased at [partial] remission (r(p)=+0.448; P=0.032). Scans at comparable SAPS scores suggested that the majority of patients had rates of ventricular expansion comparable to controls (0.9+/-0.6 cc/year), though two patients appeared to have rates of ventricular increase of 4.5+/-2. 1 cc/year (Lilliefores P=0.036; K-means clustering F=17.75). Exacerbation of psychosis in schizophrenia is accompanied by evidence of brain swelling, especially of periventricular brain, with encroachment of brain substance upon ventricular volumes. Controlled for state changes, the majority of schizophrenics show rates of ventricular expansion or brain atrophy indistinguishable from controls.
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PMID:Brain and ventricle instability during psychotic episodes of the schizophrenias. 1086 8

It has been postulated that altered interleukin (IL) regulation may be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. We therefore investigated the relationships between interleukins, neurotransmitters, and psychopathology in schizophrenia. IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-6, homovanillic acid (HVA), and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were measured in the plasma of neuroleptic-free male schizophrenics in comparison to age-matched healthy male controls (n=25 each). The patients' psychopathology was assessed by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms (SAPS, SANS). The above variables were measured during acute states of illness and after eight weeks of treatment with haloperidol. The plasma levels of IL-2 and HVA were significantly higher in patients compared to controls. In schizophrenic patients, there were significant correlations between IL-2 and HVA, IL-2 and SAPS, and HVA and SAPS during the acute state of illness. The level of IL-6 was significantly correlated to SANS and duration of illness. In schizophrenic patients, the plasma levels of IL-2 and HVA were significantly lowered after treatment with haloperidol. Changes in IL-2 and HVA significantly correlated to those in HVA and SAPS, respectively. These results strongly suggest that the cytokines may modulate dopaminergic metabolism and schizophrenic symptomatology in schizophrenia.
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PMID:Relationships between interleukins, neurotransmitters and psychopathology in drug-free male schizophrenics. 1096 18

Forty three patients, mean age 55.20 +/- 9.27 SD, affected by Schizophrenia Residual Type (DSM IV, RDC criteria) and treated with neuroleptic drugs for a mean of 25.42 years (+/- 4.12 SD) were included into the study. Clinical evaluation was cross-sectional assessed by BPRScale, SAPS, SANS, HRS-D, EPSE. ACS and MMSE. Seventy percent of patients presented a "postpsychotic depression" (42%, mild; 16%, moderate and 12% serious). "Postpsychotic depression" does not seem to be influenced by neuroleptics, but it seems to be a component of residual schizophrenia in patients with a long lasting permanence in a mental hospital.
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PMID:"Postpsychotic depression" and residual schizophrenia in a mental health hospital. 1121 34

There are several reports that performance-based measures as well as symptom ratings improve with clozapine in patients with schizophrenia who previously responded poorly to typical neuroleptic treatment. It is not clear whether improved cognitive function following initiation of clozapine is simply related to relief of psychotic symptoms and extrapyramidal side-effects associated with prior use of typical neuroleptics, or reflects another dimension of the greater efficacy of clozapine compared with typical neuroleptics. To elucidate this issue and better specify the cognitive changes associated with use of clozapine, the authors have assessed cognitive function psychometrically and using event-related potentials (ERPs), pre- and 8-12 wk post-initiation of clozapine treatment. Patients were rated on the BPRS, the SAPS and the SANS and completed a number of tests tapping aspects of frontal lobe function. ERP recordings were conducted using an auditory task twice, which was repeated under passive and active attention conditions. It was found that clozapine differentially affects tests reflecting executive and planning function, and not stimulus-driven cognitive functions. The results were not consistent with the hypothesis that these effects were simply due to relief of medication side-effects but could be related to the D(1) receptor antagonist actions of clozapine.
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PMID:The effect of clozapine therapy on frontal lobe dysfunction in schizophrenia: neuropsychology and event-related potential measures. 1128 41

Plasma homovanillic acid (pHVA) concentrations are considered to reflect, in part, central dopamine metabolism and thus may be of value in assessing the role of dopamine neurotransmission in schizophrenia. Furthermore, some recent studies have suggested a relationship of pHVA with symptomatology. We have undertaken a study of pHVA in a large cohort of unmedicated DSM-IV schizophrenic patients in order to assess the relationship of pHVA to various clinical parameters. pHVA in 58 drug-free patients (10.11+/-0.52 ng/ml) was significantly elevated in comparison with 62 matched control subjects (8.77+/-0.39 ng/ml). pHVA was found to be higher in patients with a more negative syndrome. No significant correlation of pHVA with overall SAPS or SANS scores was apparent in the patients although, within the SANS subscales, a significant relationship to anhedonia-asociality was apparent. Interestingly, the male drug-free patients showed a correlation of pHVA with negative symptoms defined by SANS and several SANS subscales, while females showed no significant relationship with any SANS subscales. The results may suggest that an increased dopaminergic turnover is apparent in (male) schizophrenic patients with predominantly negative symptoms, providing some support for reports that this change in neuronal activity may be related to the neuropathological abnormalities seen in the disease, which may themselves differ between males and females. Such neuronal deficits of developmental or degenerative origin may thus result in an elevation/disinhibition of central dopamine metabolism in schizophrenia.
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PMID:Plasma homovanillic acid in untreated schizophrenia--relationship with symptomatology and sex. 1128 53

Data on 14 males with autism and 14 with schizophrenia were collected to examine symptom overlap. The Structured Clinical Interview (SCID), the schedule for positive symptoms (SAPS) and the schedule for negative symptoms (SANS) of schizophrenia, the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and the DSM-III-R were administered. On the SCID, none of the men with paranoid schizophrenia met criteria for autism while 7 of those with autism met criteria for schizophrenia, disorganized type, showing negative symptoms. In addition, 5 showed positive symptoms on the SAPS and 6 negative symptoms on the SANS. As the difference in measured nonverbal intelligence was not significant, the effects could not be attributed to it. Although the findings continue to support the differentiation of autism and schizophrenia, they are also consistent with a comorbidity of the two disorders, mainly in those diagnosed with autism.
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PMID:Autistic disorder and schizophrenia: diagnostic overlaps. 1143 50

The paper analyses the connection between anxiety and different symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. In the study 66 patients admitted to hospital with an episode of paranoid schizophrenia were examined by a set of tests. Exacerbation of anxiety was measured by State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), whilst symptoms of schizophrenia--by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Scale for Assessment of Positive and negative Symptoms (SANS < SAPS). Statistically important correlations between anxiety and the majority of positive symptoms were observed. On the other hand, correlations between negative symptoms and anxiety experienced by the sick appeared variously.
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PMID:[Symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia and anxiety: a dynamic analysis]. 1187 88

Recent studies suggest that personality may influence symptom expression and social functioning in schizophrenia. This study investigated the relationships between personality and symptom dimensions in schizophrenia patients. Fifty-two schizophrenia patients and 25 five healthy subjects were assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The patients were also assessed for positive and negative symptoms using SAPS and SANS and scored according to Andreasen's (1995: Andreasen, N.C., Arndt, S., Alliger, R., Miller, D., Flaum, M. 1995. Symptoms of schizophrenia. Methods, meanings, and mechanisms. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry, 52, 341-351) classical three dimensional model and by the five dimensional model of Toomey et al. (1997: Toomey, R., Kremen, W.S., Simpson J.C., Samson, J.A., Seidman, L.J., Lyons, M.J., Faraone, S.V., Tsuang, M.T. 1997. Revisiting the factor structure for positive and negative symptoms: evidence from a large heterogeneous group of psychiatric patients. Am. J. Psychiatry, 154, 371-377). Comparisons between patients and controls revealed significant differences on various TCI scores consistent with a global disorganization of personality in schizophrenia involving both basic neurophysiological and potentially genetically determined traits (i.e. temperament) and developmental aspects of personality (i.e. character). Correlation analysis showed distinct associations between symptoms and personality dimensions. The results suggest that the negative and disorganized dimensions of schizophrenia are related temperamental factors, whereas the psychotic symptoms are more related to characterological abnormalities. The observed patterns of associations also underline the heterogeneity of the classical negative and positive dimensions of schizophrenia.
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PMID:The dimensional symptom structure of schizophrenia and its association with temperament and character. 1208 28

Cannabis consuming schizophrenic patients are younger at onset, are likely to have started abuse before onset of schizophrenia and show more prominent positive symptoms than nonabusers. It has been suggested that cannabis is a risk-factor for schizophrenia. Our aim was to assess prevalence and pattern of cannabis use in 125 chronic male schizophrenic subjects and its impact on socioepidemiological and clinical variables as well as which disorder precedes the other in onset. Assessment of consumption was made with a semi-structured clinical interview. Clinical status was assessed by means of the SANS, SAPS, PANSS and BPRS scales. Cannabis consumption was found in 54 subjects (43%), 66.7% of whom started it at least three years before onset of schizophrenia. Consumers were younger and with lower negative symptoms, specially abusers and polysubstance abusers. Family history positive for psychosis was more frequent in consumers, especially when consumption started before onset of schizophrenia. Subjects whose onset of schizophrenia preceded the beginning of cannabis abuse had more positive symptoms than those who started abuse before the onset of schizophrenia. On these grounds, our sample could be subdivided into two main groups, one that uses substances to counter distressing symptoms of schizophrenia and another in which cannabis might be one of the factors predisposing to the disease; the former had less negative symptoms than nonabusers. Our data support both heterogeneity of schizophrenia and genetic susceptibility to environmental agents.
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PMID:Cannabis and schizophrenia: impact on onset, course, psychopathology and outcomes. 1211 42


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