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H Kunugi

Publications and source records attributed to H Kunugi.

72 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

[Depressive disorder following personnel change--its clinical features, situational factors antecedent to recovery and treatment].

It is well known that occupational personnel change is one of the life events which frequently precipitates the onset of depressive disorder. This study examines the demographic, social and clinical features of unipolar depressives whose onsets were precipitated by recent occupational personnel changes. These index patients are compared with those whose onsets were precipitated by other life events. Information was obtained retrospectively by the patients' medical records, and diagnoses were made according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria. Of 130 patients with unipolar depression (58 males and 72 females), 18 had onsets precipitated by occupational personnel changes. Of these 18 cases, 17 were male and only one was female. Therefore, personnel change can be said to be a major precipitating factor for Japanese men. This clear sex difference is considered to be due to the difference between men's and women's attitudes toward their jobs. This distinction is not found in European countries. The comparisons between the male index patients and the others of the same sex revealed that the former had the following demographic and social features; a narrower age distribution averaging in the early 40s (p < .05), more education (p < .05) and higher rate of marriage (p < .02). As for the subtype of depressive illness, the index patients were all categorized as endogenous unipolar depression in contrast to neurotic depression. These findings suggest that unipolar depressives whose onsets were precipitated by occupational personnel changes have uniform demographic and social features and subtype of depressive illness. Therefore, they can be delineated as a clinical subgroup. The index patients had a higher rate of attempted suicide (29%) than the other patients (p < .05). One explanation for the higher rate is that Japanese employees have a strong sense of belonging to their companies. The examination of the courses and outcomes of the index patients revealed that more than half of them had protracted courses of treatment (more than a year after the start of treatment). Although antidepressant medication was effective to some degree for all of the patients, mild or moderate depressive symptoms remained for a long period in patients with protracted courses of treatment. However, many such patients completely remitted soon after they returned to their former position (or moved to a desired position).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Schizophrenia following prenatal exposure to influenza during second trimester].

Mednick et al and O'Callaghan et al have recently reported that individuals exposed to the 1957 A2 influenza pandemic during their second trimester in utero are at risk for later schizophrenia. In this study, we determined whether their findings could be reproducible in a Japanese sample. In Japan, there were two waves of the 1957 A2 influenza pandemic; the first occurred from June to July, and the second from November to December. In addition, an epidemic of influenza A/B mixed type prevailed from January to February 1957. We obtained information on all dates of birth of 1187 individuals born between June 1955 and May 1960, who were treated for schizophrenia during the study period. November 1991 to September 1992, at 18 mental hospitals around Tokyo metropolitan areas. Hospital clinical diagnosis was used. We defined the index year from June 1957, beginning the first wave of the pandemic, to May 1958. We compared the number of schizophrenic births in each month of the index year with the average number of births in the corresponding month of the two years before, and following, the index year. The observed number of births in June 1957 and April 1958 were found to be significantly high compared with the average number of births for the corresponding month in the four control years. The 63% excess of schizophrenic births in June 1957 ensued about 5 months after the peak of influenza A/B mixed type epidemic; there was also 49% increase in births about 5 months after the second wave of the pandemic. Given that full term delivery occurred in our sample (ie, 9 months pregnancy), our results support the view of Mednick et al and O'Callaghan et al that maternal exposure to influenza in the mid-pregnancy increases the risk of developing schizophrenia.

Disease Outbreaks↗
PubMed1983

Effects of prolonged administration of indenolol in hypertensive rats.

The effects of 4-week administration and subsequent 2-week withdrawal of indenolol, 50 mg/kg/day p.o., were investigated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), renal hypertensive rats (RHR) and DOCA-salt hypertensive rats (DHR) at established stage, and compared with those of propranolol, 100 mg/kg/day p.o. Indenolol and propranolol caused a marked decrease in heart rate in SHR, RHR and DHR without showing a pronounced antihypertensive activity. Both drugs did not affect the body weight gain in RHR and DHR. On the other hand, the drugs suppressed the body weight gain in SHR, which recovered during 2-week withdrawal period. Weights of the heart, kidney, liver, spleen and adrenals were not affected by the drugs. Indenolol and propranolol markedly lowered the plasma renin activity (PRA) in SHR, RHR and DHR. PRA in RHR and DHR recovered to the control level during 2-week withdrawal period, while that in SHR did not. The results indicate that indenolol produces essentially the same effect as propranolol in SHR, RHR and DHR. Prolonged administration of indenolol to SHR, RHR and DHR with established hypertension produces a marked suppression of cardiac performance and PRA with showing antihypertensive activity.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pericentric region of chromosome 9 is a possible candidate region for linkage study of schizophrenia.

We have undertaken a systematic G-banding survey to find structural chromosomal abnormalities among patients with schizophrenia. Of 120 patients with DSM-III-R schizophrenia, four (3.3%) had a pericentric inversion of chromosome 9 and three (2.5%) had a X/XX mosaicism. The frequency of pericentric inversion of chromosome 9 among patients with schizophrenia was statistically higher than those among newborns and Asian populations. Our results indicate that the pericentric region of chromosome 9 might be one of the potential regions of interest for linkage analysis of schizophrenia.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship between impairment of prenatal brain growth and family history of psychosis in schizophrenia.

Recently McNeil et al. (1993b), showed that schizophrenics had smaller head circumference (HC) at birth than controls. This small head size at birth was observed more commonly among schizophrenics without a family history of psychosis than among familial schizophrenics, suggesting that some prenatal environmental factors, rather than genetic factors, are related to the impaired brain growth in utero. We attempted to replicate this finding in 100 Japanese schizophrenics (DSM-III-R), using contemporaneous data on body measures at birth. Conversely, in the current study, HC at birth was found to be significantly smaller in schizophrenics with a family history of psychosis (N = 19) than those without (N = 81). A multiple regression analysis, controlling for gender, gestational age, maternal age, birth order and year of birth, yielded an overall reduction of about 1 cm in HC at birth among familial schizophrenics compared with non-familial schizophrenics. When HC at birth in family history positive and negative groups was compared separately with the local population norms with adjustment for gender and gestational age, familial and non-familial schizophrenics were both found to have significantly smaller HC at birth, although the difference was less marked for the latter. These results suggest that schizophrenics have delayed cerebral development in utero, and that genes which operate on prenatal neurodevelopment may play an important role in the aetiology of schizophrenia, although it is possible that some environmental factors may also be involved in the impaired brain growth.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Season of birth of chronic alcoholics.

Season of birth has been well studied in mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and affective disorders; however, only a few studies have been done for alcoholism. Recently Modestin et al. (1995) found, in a sample from Switzerland, excess birth of male alcoholics in March to July, compared to the general population. The present study attempted to replicate their finding in two independent Japanese samples which comprised a total of 1,947 men with chronic alcoholism. In our study, no birth rate excess in March to July was observed in either sample, while a non-significant birth rate excess (12%) in August to October was noted. It is concluded that there is no consistent trend in season of birth of alcoholics across countries.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Serotonin transporter gene polymorphisms: ethnic difference and possible association with bipolar affective disorder.

There is some evidence suggesting that a polymorphism of variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) in the second intron of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene and another variation which lies 1.2 kb upstream of the promoter of the gene (5-HTTLPR) are associated with affective disorders. However, conflicting results have also been reported. We examined an allelic association of these two polymorphisms in a Japanese sample of 191 patients with affective disorders (142 bipolar and 49 unipolar) and 212 controls. Substantial differences in the number and frequency of alleles between Caucasians and Japanese were observed for both polymorphisms. A significant association between the VNTR polymorphism and bipolar disorder (genotypic association: odds ratio 2.2, 95% CI 1.2-4.0; allelic association: odds ratio 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-3.0) was found, but not between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and bipolar disorder. No significant association with unipolar depression was detected using either genetic marker, although this may be attributable to the relatively small number of subjects with unipolar depression. Our results suggest that the VNTR itself or another unknown functional polymorphism which would be in linkage disequilibrium to the VNTR has an effect on susceptibility to bipolar disorder.

Adult↗