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Biomedical subjects

I Bitter

Publications and source records attributed to I Bitter.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

A systematic review of the efficacy and safety of second generation antipsychotics in the treatment of mania.

Second generation antipsychotic agents are increasingly used in the management of acute mania. A systematic review of the efficacy and safety of these agents, as both monotherapy and in combination with mood stabilisers, was performed to establish the evidence for their use. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were critically appraised in more detail than studies that presented lower levels of evidence such as case reports, case series and open label follow up studies. We found 11 RCTs reporting on patients treated with second generation antipsychotics for acute bipolar mania, of which three included randomisation between the second generation antipsychotic and placebo, and eight between a mood stabiliser combined with either the second generation antipsychotic or placebo. Data from non-randomised trials is also presented.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed2006

Psychiatry in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe: an overview of the current situation.

OBJECTIVE: To review the current status of psychiatry in selected countries of Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. METHOD: A group of psychiatrists from the region evaluated the status of psychiatry at the end of 2004 based on data from their countries and information available on WHO homepages. RESULTS: There is a shift from traditional in-patient facilities towards out-patient and community services as evidenced by a decreasing number of hospital beds. Economic pressures affect the financing of psychiatric services, and reimbursement for novel psychotropics. Political changes were followed by updated legislation. Psychiatric training, pre-, postgraduate and continuous medical education, are gradually being transformed. Scientific output as measured by publications in peer-reviewed journals has been significantly lower than in the West. CONCLUSION: The major changes in the period of transition documented in the review pose new challenges for psychiatry.

Bulgaria↗
PubMed2003

Prescribing for inpatients with schizophrenia: an international multi-center comparative study.

BACKGROUND: This study compares prescription practices for acute inpatients with schizophrenia among six academic departments located in China, Japan, Hungary, and the U.S. METHODS: Prescription data for a sample of 429 inpatients from six academic departments were collected on a randomly chosen census day. All patients met criteria for schizophrenia according to DSM-IV and had a length of illness of at least two years. RESULTS: While patients at the different centers varied in their demographic and clinical characteristics, i. e., age, sex, and length of illness, a great variation in prescription patterns for antipsychotic and other psychotropic drugs among centers was observed even within the same country for all the variables studied (i. e., number and dose antipsychotics, atypical and depot antipsychotics, other psychotropic drugs, multiple antipsychotics, and daily dose) except antidepressant use. In most cases these differences persisted even after adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics (age, sex, and length of illness) of the subjects. Antipsychotics were usually prescribed in divided daily doses in combination with one or more other psychotropic drugs, including anticholinergics, anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines, and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics. Anticholinergic use was more common with typical antipsychotics. Rates of atypical antipsychotic drug use were lowest in the Japanese center. The Japanese center had by far the highest mean daily dose of antipsychotics. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that prescription patterns in different centers do not follow any specific guidelines for the treatment of schizophrenia. The results also confirm previous findings that prescribing practices for schizophrenia vary greatly among centers and countries. A common prescribing pattern found was the use of atypical antipsychotic drugs in combination with psychotropic drugs, such as anticholinergics, hypnotics, anticonvulsants, and benzodiazepines, administered in multiple daily doses.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Direct evidence of ionic fluxes across ion-selective membranes: a scanning electrochemical microscopic and potentiometric study.

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) supplemented with potentiometric measurements was used to follow the time-dependent buildup of a steady-state diffusion layer at the aqueous-phase boundary of lead ion-selective electrodes (ISEs). Differential pulse voltammetry is adapted to SECM for probing the local concentration profiles at the sample side of solvent polymeric membranes. Major factors affecting the membrane transport-related surface concentrations were identified from SECM data and the potentiometric transients obtained under different experimental conditions (inner filling solution composition, membrane thickness, surface pretreatment). The amperometrically determined surface concentrations correlated well with the lower detection limits of the lead ion-selective electrodes.

Ion-Selective Electrodes↗
PubMed2000

Dynamics of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate in actin-rich structures.

Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P(2)) is known to regulate a wide range of molecular targets and cellular processes, from ion channels to actin polymerization [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]. Recent studies have used the phospholipase C-delta1 (PLC-delta1) pleckstrin-homology (PH) domain fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a detector for PI(4,5)P(2) in vivo [7] [8] [9] [10]. Although these studies demonstrated that PI(4,5)P(2) is concentrated in the plasma membrane, its association with actin-containing structures was not reported. In the present study, fluorescence imaging of living NIH-3T3 fibroblasts expressing the PLC-delta1 PH domain linked to enhanced green fluorescent protein (PH-EGFP) reveals intense, non-uniform fluorescence in distinct structures at the cell periphery. Corresponding fluorescence and phase-contrast imaging over time shows that these fluorescent structures correlate with dynamic, phase-dense features identified as ruffles and with microvillus-like protrusions from the cell's dorsal surface. Imaging of fixed and permeabilized cells shows co-localization of PH-EGFP with F-actin in ruffles, but not with vinculin in focal adhesions. The selective concentration of the PH-EGFP fusion protein in highly dynamic regions of the plasma membrane that are rich in F-actin supports the hypothesis that localized synthesis and lateral segregation of PI(4,5)P(2) spatially restricts actin polymerization and thereby affects cell spreading and retraction.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed2000

Prevalence of subthreshold forms of psychiatric disorders in persons making suicide attempts in Hungary.

BACKGROUND: Suicide and suicide attempts have been associated to psychiatric illnesses; however, little is known about the role in suicide risk of those symptoms that do not meet the full criteria for a DSM-IV disorder. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of subthreshold psychiatric disorders among suicide attempters in Hungary. METHODS: Using a modified structured interview (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) determining 16 Axis I psychiatric diagnoses and their subthreshold forms defined by the DSM-IV and a semistructured interview collecting background information, the authors examined 140 consecutive suicide attempters, aged 18-65 years. RESULTS: Eighty-three-point-six percent of the attempters had one or more current threshold diagnoses on Axis I and in addition more than three-quarters (78.6%) of the subjects had at least one subthreshold diagnosis. Six-point-four percent of the subjects (N = 9) had neither subthreshold nor threshold diagnoses at the time of their suicide attempts. Ten percent of the subjects (N = 14), not meeting the full criteria for any DSM-IV diagnoses, had at least one subthreshold diagnosis. In 68.6% of the subjects (N = 96), both subthreshold and threshold disorders were diagnosed at the time of their suicide attempts. The number of subthreshold and threshold diagnoses were positively and significantly related (chi2 = 5.12, df = 1, P < 0.05). Sixty-three-point-six percent of the individuals received two or more current threshold diagnoses on Axis I and 44.3% of the individuals (N = 62) had two or more subthreshold diagnoses at the time of their suicide attempts. LIMITATIONS: The subthreshold definitions in this study included only those forms of the disorders which required the same duration as the criteria DSM-IV disorder with fewer symptoms. Conclusions - Suicide attempts showed a very high prevalence of subthreshold disorders besides psychiatric disorders meeting the full criteria required according to the DSM-IV. Subthreshold forms of mental disorders need to be taken into account in suicide prevention.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

[Pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders].

The pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders has revolutionary changed in the last few years. This ICD-10 based review of the literature provides help for general practitioners and other specialists in the short and long term treatment of anxiety as well as in the discontinuation of pharmacologic treatment. The author describes the use of high potency benzodiazepines, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and 5 HT1A partial agonists and summarizes the disadvantages of some older drugs still in use for the treatment of anxiety disorders.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1992

Haloperidol blood levels and clinical effects.

This study explored the relationships between plasma levels and the clinical effects of haloperidol in 176 acutely exacerbated schizophrenic or schizoaffective patients. After a single-blind placebo period of 1 week (period 1), they entered the double-blind period 2 randomly assigned to one of three plasma levels of haloperidol: low (2 to 13 ng/mL), medium (13.1 to 24 ng/mL), or high (24.1 to 35 ng/mL). Patients whose conditions did not improve in period 2 continued on one of the three haloperidol levels (period 3). Periods 2 and 3 lasted 6 weeks each. Only minor differences in clinical responses were noted among the three levels of haloperidol. These results imply that low or moderate doses of neuroleptics are appropriate for many acutely psychotic patients.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1991

Relationship between the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms: a study of their correlation and redundancy.

Because overlapping psychometric scales are used frequently in psychiatric research, examination of the relationship between scales has become increasingly important. The concept of relationship is the focus of this article. By way of illustration, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) were compared for correlation and redundancy. Since these scales are frequently represented by derived summary variables (e.g., factors, total scores), it is also important to assess the effect of such representation on measures of relationship. The SANS and the BPRS were found to be highly intercorrelated. Nevertheless, the individual items and the subscale scores of the SANS contain information independent from the BPRS: the best BPRS predictor variates can explain only approximately half of the total variance of the SANS. When the SANS, however, is represented by a single variable (composite score), it becomes highly redundant with the anergia factor of the BPRS.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The concept of the neuroleptic threshold: an update.

The authors review the development and the controversies of the neuroleptic threshold theory. According to this theory, the minimum effective antipsychotic dose of a neuroleptic ("threshold dose") correlates with the appearance of "fine motor" symptoms (micrography) as opposed to the appearance of manifest or "coarse motor" extrapyramidal side effects. About half of the acutely exacerbated schizophrenic patients respond to threshold doses, but no predictors are known to characterize the responders. The neuroleptic threshold doses were found to be low, and the low dose treatment strategy is supported by the results of current PET and neuroleptic plasma level studies.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1990

Haloperidol blood levels and effects in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: a progress report.

To test the hypothesis of a "therapeutic window," we have randomly assigned acutely exacerbating schizophrenic or schizoaffective patients to one of three plasma levels of haloperidol (HAL): 2-13, 13.1-24, or 24.1-35 ng/ml. Patients who did not improve after 6 weeks of this treatment were randomly assigned to one of the three haloperidol levels for another 6 weeks. The improvement was defined as at least 50 percent reduction of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) total score. The results obtained in 111 patients do not support any consistent relationship between plasma level of haloperidol and clinical improvement. Patients in the high haloperidol plasma range tended to have more side effects. These results suggest that the haloperidol doses used in clinical practice may be higher than necessary.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Subjective symptoms: part of the negative syndrome of schizophrenia?

We present the psychometric and clinical psychopathological properties of the SDSS for the assessment of subjective symptoms as applied to various schizophrenic samples. The subjective deficit syndrome has not been obvious to most investigators, in part because the currently available scales, even those assessing negative symptoms, were not designed to capture it. While the subjective deficit syndrome is not specific to schizophrenia, it may explain what is widely observed as a major public health problem, namely, that officially "remitted" patients continue to fail in social and occupational functioning. The understanding of this syndrome is a prerequisite for better management of these remitted schizophrenic outpatients. Future longitudinal studies including outpatients are needed to address these issues further.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1987

Electrodermally differentiated subgroups of anxiety patients. I. Automatic and vigilance characteristics.

A total of 32 anxiety patients (agoraphobia, panic syndrome, generalized anxiety syndrome) selected according to the DSM-III criteria were compared with 16 controls to determine distinguishing features of autonomic response patterns to a sequence of verbal and acoustic stimuli. In addition sensorimotor tasks were performed. The anxiety patients were classified into electrodermally stabile and labile subgroups on the basis of two reliably measurable psychophysiological parameters: the rate of electrodermal habituation to neutral stimuli and non-specific electrodermal activity. The electrodermally labile anxiety group was characterized by a high degree of variability in respiratory and pulse rate during the autonomic activation procedure. Within the control group the electrodermally labile subjects were characterized by a significantly higher pulse rate during the entire autonomic activation procedure. The reduced habituation capacity of the labile subgroup of anxiety patients compared to the controls was reflected in both retarded habituation and long durations of electrodermal responses to all verbal stimuli. This group also tolerated monotony; their performance did not drop during the 256 sensorimotor reaction time tasks and even exceeded the performance of the control group by the end of the test. The stabile anxiety subgroup had a significantly longer reaction time in all reaction time tasks than the labile subgroup of anxiety patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Types of complaints in psychiatric and internal medical patients.

A follow-up study was made in groups of female neurotic, depressive, periodic catatonic, hypertonic, hyperthyreotic patients and normal control subjects using self-rating questionnaires to assess disposition, depressivity, neuroticism and subclinical symptoms. The subclinical symptoms scale (Sub-S) was elaborated on the basis of Huber's pure defect. We found that the experience (Sub-Exp) and behavior characteristics (Sub-Be) of the Sub-S form two separate subconstructs. The Sub-Exp belongs to the neuroticism factor and the Sub-Be can be evaluated as a subclinical appearance of manifest psychopathological behavior symptoms. The 'general disposition' construct is divided into subconstructs and shows contextual variants. It is proposed to use different methods for assessing it in the different problem areas simultaneously.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Nitrogen bridgehead compounds. 38. New antiallergic 4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-ones. 3.

The weak antiallergic activity of 6-methyl-4-oxo-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carboxylic acid (4) on the rat reaginic passive cutaneous anaphylaxis test was enhanced by the introduction of appropriate functional groups into position 9 of the pyridopyrimidine ring. The most active 9-substituted pyridopyrimidinecarboxylic acids contained an oxime, a phenylamino, or a (phenylamino)thioxomethyl group in position 9. The 9-phenylcarboxamido and 9-phenylhydrazono moieties may be regarded as bioisosteric groups in the pyridopyrimidinone series. In the series of 9-(arylamino)dihydropyridopyrimidines, the structure-activity relationship study revealed similar relationships as found for the 9-(arylhydrazono)tetrahydropyridopyrimidines. The biological activity was due to the 6S enantiomers. A monosubstituted arylamino moiety in position 9 was necessary for the intravenous activity. The most active compound, 9-[(3-acetylphenyl)amino]-6-methyl-4-oxo-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-4H- pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carboxylic acid (40) was three times as active as the reference sodium chromoglycate (DSCG) in the passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) test.

Animals↗