PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Borkowska

Publications and source records attributed to A Borkowska.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

An association study of dopamine receptors polymorphisms and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in schizophrenia.

Dopamine (DA), an important neurotransmitter in prefrontal cortex (PFC), is involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The aim of the study was to test an association between common polymorphism of genes for DA receptors DRD1, DRD2, DRD3, DRD4, and performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), measuring various functions of PFC, in 138 schizophrenic patients. Patients with G/G genotype of DRD1 tended to obtain worse results in all domains of WCST compared to patients with remaining genotypes, particularly for number of completed corrected categories, and trials to set the first category. A relationship was also found in female patients between DRD2 polymorphism and number of perseverative errors, while no association between WCST results and DRD3 or DRD4 polymorphism was observed in patients studied. The results may suggest an association between DRD1 gene polymorphism and performance on PFC test in schizophrenia. Also, the gender-dependent role of DRD2 in this process may be presumed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Neuropsychological frontal lobe tests indicate that bipolar depressed patients are more impaired than unipolar.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the neuropsychological performance of patients with bipolar or unipolar mood disorders during acute episodes of depression using intelligence and frontal lobe tests. METHODS: Fifteen patients with bipolar depression (BP) and 30 with unipolar depression (UP) were studied. For the neuropsychological assessment, the following tests: the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R), the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Stroop test, the verbal fluency test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were used. RESULTS: The mean intensity of depression and mean duration of illness were similar in both groups. Patients in the BP group achieved significantly lower levels of performance in the non-verbal part of WAIS-R, in both parts of the Stroop test, in the verbal fluency test and also showed a tendency to achieve poorer results in TMT-B than those in the UP group. Bipolar depressed patients also produced significantly poorer results with the WCST as they made twice as many perseverative errors and only completed half of the correct categories compared with the UP patients. The results of the TMT-A tests, which measure psychomotor slowness, were similar in BP and UP patients. No differences between the results of male and female patients were noted in either group. Deterioration of the results associated with duration of the illness was only observed in the UP patients. CONCLUSIONS: A higher degree of cognitive dysfunction connected with frontal lobe activity during an acute depressive episode was found in bipolar compared with unipolar depressed patients. These results may corroborate other findings pointing to pathogenic distinctions between bipolar and unipolar affective illness and to some similarities between bipolar illness and schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Dopamine D3 receptor (DRD3) gene polymorphism is associated with the intensity of eye movement disturbances in schizophrenic patients and healthy subjects.

Altered dopamine neurotransmission and eye movement disturbances have been implicated in the pathogenic process of schizophrenia. So far, molecular genetic studies have shown little association between schizophrenia and polymorphism of any dopamine receptor or transporter genes except for some findings concerning D3 receptor (DRD3) gene. Eye movement disturbances occur in a majority of patients with schizophrenia and in a proportion of their first-degree relatives and they have been suggested as a phenotypic marker in genetic studies of this illness. Here we report an association between the Ser9Gly polymorphism of the DRD3 gene and the intensity of eye movement disturbances (fixation and smooth pursuit) observed in 119 schizophrenic patients and in 94 unrelated healthy control subjects. In schizophrenic patients, the mean intensity of both kinds of eye movement disturbances was highest in individuals with the Ser-Ser genotype, significantly lower in Ser-Gly and lowest in the Gly-Gly genotype. The Ser-Ser genotype was more prevalent in patients with a higher intensity of both fixation (58.1 vs 23.9% P < 0.001) and smooth pursuit disturbances (52.3 vs 25.8%, P < 0.02) and the Ser-Gly genotype frequency was lower in patients with higher fixation disturbances (37.0 vs 60.9%, P < 0.02). In control subjects, the genotype frequency Ser-Ser was higher in subjects with any degree of eye movement disturbances compared to subjects without such disturbances both for fixation and smooth pursuit performance (81.0 vs 50.7%, P < 0.05 and 79.2 vs 50.0%, P < 0.05, respectively). In control subjects the frequency of Ser-Gly was lower in the first group, for either fixation or smooth pursuit, compared to normal performers (9.5 vs 43.8%, P < 0.01 and 8.3 vs 45.7, P < 0.005, respectively). We suggest that the DRD3 Ser9Gly polymorphism may be a contributing factor to the performance of eye movements used as a phenotypic marker of schizophrenia.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cognitive deficits in the bipolar affective disorder].

Cognitive deficits have been viewed as being characteristic features of schizophrenia. Neuropsychological impairment has been also identified in depression and mania. Recent studies have suggested that patients with bipolar disorder do not make full recovery between episodes of illness and that neuropsychological dysfunction may persist beyond these episodes. Remitted bipolar patients performed worse on Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Verbal fluency and Stroop Test than healthy controls, the results of the patients with affective disorders with psychotic features were comparable with those of schizophrenics. Some studies suggest an association between the course of illness and the intensity of cognitive deficits, this link was not confirmed in other reports. Imaging studies have shown the presence of white matter lesions and other abnormalities in the brains of bipolar patients. The relative reduction in cerebral tissue may contribute to neuropsychological impairment in subgroup of bipolar patients. Results of studies on the role of white matter lesions are inconsistent. Recent studies point to an association between decreased prefrontal cortex volume and cognitive disturbances. Attention is focused on hippocampus volume as well, since it is associated with cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder. Further studies are needed to elucidate whether a severe course of illness is associated with more pronounced cognitive disorders and whether presence of psychotic symptoms during the acute phase of the illness is a predictor of the occurrence of cognitive deficits in patients with bipolar affective disorder.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The case of central pontine myelinolysis in an alcohol dependent male].

Long-term alcohol abuse can lead to numerous central nervous system lesions, among them central pontine myelinolysis. In this paper, the first in Polish literature case of central pontine myelinolysis in an alcohol dependent male, clinically diagnosed, and confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance with one year follow-up has been presented. The patient, 49 years old, was admitted to Addiction Treatment Unit, Department of Psychiatry in Bydgoszcz. After admission he manifested clouded consciousness, dysphasia, hyponatremia and neuropsychological abnormalities which showed brain stem lesion. He had no significant abnormalities in CT. Nuclear magnetic resonance revealed triangular hypointensive lesion 10 x 5 mm in central pontine region. One year after admission to Addiction Treatment Unit he still has troubles with walking and swallowing. He has bilateral pyramidal symptoms and emotional lability. He was treated with vinpocetine (0.075 g per day), piracetam (4.8 g per day) and chlorprotixen (0.09 g per day). He was admitted to Psychiatric Ward because of a suicidal attempt as a manifestation of mood disorder due to general medical condition.

Alcoholism↗