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Biomedical subjects

A Des Lauriers

Publications and source records attributed to A Des Lauriers.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

[Depressions resistant to tricyclic antidepressive treatment and hypothyroidism].

The relationship between thyroid disorders and depression is well known. This type of endocrine disease is mainly observed in patients with depression resistant to appropriate antidepressor therapy. Three clinical forms of this association may be distinguished: hypothyroidism in a patient with depression but without a previous psychiatric history; a relapse of depression in a manico depressive patient who has developed hypothyroidism; the finding of slight thyroid dysfunction (increased TSH response after injection of TRH) in a patient with depression. The frequency of the association of hypothyroidism and resistant depression underlines the need to perform thyroid function tests in all depressed patients who do not respond normally to appropriate antidepressor therapy. The precise mechanism of the resistance of depressive symptoms to tricyclic antidepressors is unclear. Several arguments point to an effect of triiodothyronine on central noradrenergic receptors. In practice, significant hypothyroidism implies substitute therapy. Minor thyroid dysfunction (abnormal TRH test alone) may require the association of tricyclic antidepressors and thyroid hormone although the indications and precise dosages of this drug association have not been established.

Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic↗
PubMed1984

[Renal clearance technic for individualizing lithium dosage in routine hospital care].

Lithium has a narrow therapeutic index and exhibits a wide pharmacokinetic variability. Individual dosage regimen adjustment is necessary to warrant the efficacy and safety of long-term treatment. We propose the "renal clearance method" for rapid determination of the lithium carbonate daily dose for chronic therapy. After the first intake of drug by a manic-depressive patient, a four-hour trial is performed. It involves two blood samplings and two urine collections, in which lithium and creatine are assayed. Comparison of observed creatinine with a value predicted according to age, morphological characteristics, sex and serum creatinine of the patients allows the interpretation of conflicting results. The estimation of lithium and creatinine clearances of each patient is performed using a computerized or manual method which unfolds a decision procedure. The daily dosage (1.5 to 6 250 mg tablets in two or three daily intakes) is deduced from the according lithium renal clearance (0.4 to over 2 l/h) by means of a nomogram established in previous studies on about 50 patients. The clearance method has been investigated in routine hospital care on a 40 patients sample. The range of satisfactory lithium serum levels during patients monitoring was 0.6-0.9 mmol/l. Accurate dosage regimen forecasting is obtained in 92% of the patients. The percentage observed in a subset of 13 patients with the C24 method, which relies on a unique blood sample 24 hours after the first dose, was much lower (54%). The renal clearance method appears as a robust and reliable technique for individual lithium dosage regimen adjustment in routine care.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

[The clomipramine-lithium combination: controlled trial].

A controlled study on a pragmatic type was performed on 30 patients of both sex, all having recurrent depressions. The efficacy of Clomipramine plus Lithium Carbonate was compared to that of Clomipramine plus placebo. The control consisted in a double-blind study with random sampling of patients. Results were recorded by an independant observer using a rating scale and were analysed statistically. In spite of the bias which was observed it seems possible to conclude. The association of Clomipramine plus Lithium Carbonate has no greater global antidepressive efficacy as compared with Clomipramine plus placebo which means that Lithium does not potentialize nor antagonize the anti depressant effect of Clomipramine. In respect of the number of patients : bipolar depressions (10 cases) unipolar (20 cases) it has not been possible to study the results in these 2 sub groups.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Familial forms of schizophrenia. Cytogenetic study].

As a preliminary step in the search for chromosomal location of a susceptibility gene predisposing to schizophrenia, cytogenetic screening of patients might be useful. Search for chromosomal aberrations has successfully directed and accelerated the identification of several disease genes, such as the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene, retinoblastoma, Burkitt's lymphoma and chronic myeloïd leukemia. Although karyotypes abnormalities do not account for a large portion of cases of Schizophrenia, the two candidate regions predisposing to this disease resulted from observation of chromosomal abnormalities. First, the identification of a partial trisomy of the 5q11-q13 region (Basset et al., 1988) led Sherrington et al. (1988) to report a positive linkage with markers localized on the long arm of chromosome 5, which has not yet been replicated (Kauffman et al., 1989; Kennedy et al., 1988; St Clair et al., 1989). Second, on the basis of frequent cytogenetic abnormalities of the sex chromosome (DeLisi, 1985) in addition to epidemiological observations, Crow (1988) suggested that there could be a locus for psychosis within the pseudoautosomal region, a data which has been recently confirmed (Collinge et al., 1991). With the hypothesis that such aberrations could be more frequent among schizophrenics who have at least one affected first-degree relative, we undertook cytogenetic screening on a sample recruited from consecutive psychiatric admissions to a Psychiatric facility (Hôpital Saint Paul) involving patients living in a limited geographical area on the island of La Réunion, a French Department in the Indian Ocean.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chromosome Aberrations↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Clonidine versus a placebo trial in manic disorder].

Clonidine efficacy was evaluated in 24 manic inpatients, hospitalised in a locked ward. This is a double blind and randomized study. The duration of the trial was 14 days, and the daily dose of clonidine was 0.225 mg/day during the first week, increased to 0.450 mg/day during the second week, in the case of incomplete improvement. There was a trend for a better efficacy of clonidine over placebo, but this did not reach significant, due to an important amelioration of many patients under placebo. The effects of the hospitalisation in a locked ward are discussed.

Administration, Oral↗