Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0036341 (schizophrenia)
 60,220 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Some 50 years ago the enzyme MAO was discovered by Hare and in the early 1930s Blaschko suggested that MAO may play an important role in the catabolism of monoamines in the central nervous system. With the discovery of iproniazid as an inhibitor of MAO and its introduction as an anti-depressant, many aspects of MAO activity and biogenic amine metabolism in experimental animals and man were examined. Although many other inhibitors of MAO were discovered and used therapeutically as anti-depressants, these drugs fell into disrepute largely because of their side-effects. Furthermore, their anti-depressant properties were questioned. After some years of relative inactivity there is now a revival of interest in the functional role of MAO in the central nervous system and drugs that inhibit or stimulate its activity "specifically". The basic reason for the upsurge of interest is that the enzyme from many tissues, including the brain of animals as well as man, has been purified and characterised. The evidence that neuronal MAO exist with different substrate and inhibitor specificities has led to the suggestion that they have physiological function and that deamination of non-methylated biogenic monoamines can take place in neurons. These findings have led to the advent of new drugs (clorgyline and depranil) with "selective" inhibition of enzyme forms. Their possible usage in the chemotherapy of depressive illness should be considered seriously. Fluctuation in peripheral organs as well as brain MAO is well documented. Recently they have been associated with changes in naturally occurring steroids. Although a decrease in platelet and brain MAO activity has been reported in a number of affect disorders (schizophrenia and bipolar depression) the results of these findings have recently been questioned (20, 141). Obviously further study in this area of research discussed is badly needed.
 ...
PMID:Monoamine oxidase. Its inhibition. 110 Oct 49

Although schizophrenia was previously associated with affected spatial neuronal synchronization, surprisingly little is known about the temporal dynamics of neuronal oscillations in this disease. However, given that the coordination of neuronal processes in time represents an essential aspect of practically all cognitive operations, it might be strongly affected in patients with schizophrenia. In the present study we aimed at quantifying long-range temporal correlations (LRTC) in patients (18 with schizophrenia; 3 with schizoaffective disorder) and 28 healthy control subjects matched for age and gender. Ongoing neuronal oscillations were recorded with multi-channel EEG at rest condition. LRTC in the range 5-50s were analyzed with Detrended Fluctuation Analysis. The amplitude of neuronal oscillations in alpha and beta frequency ranges did not differ between patients and control subjects. However, LRTC were strongly attenuated in patients with schizophrenia in both alpha and beta frequency ranges. Moreover, the cross-frequency correlation between LRTC belonging to alpha and beta oscillations was stronger for patients than healthy controls, indicating that similar neurophysiological processes affect neuronal dynamics in both frequency ranges. We believe that the attenuation of LRTC is most likely due to the increased variability in neuronal activity, which was previously hypothesized to underlie an excessive switching between the neuronal states in patients with schizophrenia. Attenuated LRTC might allow for more random associations between neuronal activations, which in turn might relate to the occurrence of thought disorders in schizophrenia.
 ...
PMID:Attenuation of long-range temporal correlations in the amplitude dynamics of alpha and beta neuronal oscillations in patients with schizophrenia. 2243 Apr 97

Introduction. The present study was intended to evaluate the effects of a rehabilitative training, the Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment (CPT), aimed at improving communicative-pragmatic abilities and the related cognitive components, on the cerebral modifications of a single case patient diagnosed with schizophrenia. Methods. The patient underwent two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions, before and after the treatment. In order to assess brain changes, we calculated the Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation (ALFF) index of the resting-state fMRI signal, which is interpreted as reflecting the intensity of the spontaneous regional activity of the brain. Behavioural measures of the patient's communicative performance were also gathered before and after training and at follow-up. Results. The patient improved his communicative performance in almost all tests. Posttraining stronger ALFF signal emerged in the superior, inferior, and medial frontal gyri, as well as the superior temporal gyri. Conclusions. Even if based on a single case study, these preliminary results show functional changes at the cerebral level that seem to support the patient's behavioural improvements.
 ...
PMID:Cognitive Pragmatic Rehabilitation Program in Schizophrenia: A Single Case fMRI Study. 2823 98