PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

O Lingjaerde

Publications and source records attributed to O Lingjaerde.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

[Drug therapy of depression in general practice].

The authors advocate use of the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale in general practice as a screening instrument for depression. A score of 20 and above for more than two weeks indicates a need for treatment with antidepressant drugs. The treatment should continue with full dosage for at least two months after the patient has been cured. In order to maintain the patient's quality of life, reduce risk of drug-related toxicity and improve compliance, we recommend alfa-2-receptor blocker, a selective 5HT-re-uptake inhibitor or a selective monoamino-oxidase A inhibitor as the first drug choice for treatment of depression by general practitioners. Monitoring serum levels of the drug may be helpful, especially in persons who do not respond to treatment.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1991

Benzodiazepines in the treatment of schizophrenia: an updated survey.

Reports on the effects of benzodiazepines in schizophrenia have appeared since the early 1960s. Conclusions drawn from these studies, most of which have been uncontrolled, have ranged from worse than placebo to better than neuroleptics. A critical appraisal of the literature seems to warrant the following main conclusions. Benzodiazepines alone, in conventional doses, have no convincing antipsychotic effect in schizophrenia, although they may reduce anxiety, tension and insomnia. However, very high doses of diazepam, and possibly other benzodiazepines, may have a symptomatic antipsychotic effect, especially in paranoid-hallucinatory schizophrenics, also when given alone. Benzodiazepines, in conventional doses, can enhance the antipsychotic effect of neuroleptics in schizophrenics who have not responded satisfactorily to neuroleptics alone. This effect may be most conspicuous against hallucinations, but improvement may also be obtained from delusions, thought disturbances, some negative symptoms, anxiety and tension. Some benzodiazepines may be more effective than others in schizophrenia, but this has been insufficiently elucidated.

Anti-Anxiety Agents↗
PubMed1990

[Schizophrenic patients and the emotional climate in the family. Causes, consequences and treatment of intensely expressed emotions of close relatives].

In recent years it has been shown that the course of schizophrenia is influenced by the attitudes and behaviour of the close relatives with whom the schizophrenic person lives. In particular, there is greater risk of relapse if family members show a high degree of criticism, hostility, or emotional over-involvement in relation to the schizophrenic; these attitudes have been described as high expressed emotion (High EE) and are usually assessed by means of the Camberwell family interview. However, as discussed in this paper, there are still many unsettled questions regarding content, validity, causes, effects, and treatment of High EE.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1990

Prevalence of reported sleeplessness in northern Norway in relation to sex, age and season.

As part of a comprehensive population health survey in the municipality of Tromsø, north of the Arctic Circle, men between 20 and 54 years and women between 20 and 49 years were presented a questionnaire containing questions about sleeplessness and its possible association with season. Of the 14,667 respondents, 41.7% of the women and 29.9% of the men said they were sometimes bothered by insomnia. Insomnia not associated with any special time of the year was reported by 16.9% of women and 16.2% of men; insomnia in the "dark period" (midwinter insomnia) was reported by 17.6% of women and 9.0% of men; insomnia in the midnight-sun period or in spring or autumn was much less common. Difficulty falling asleep was the most common type of insomnia, especially in winter and summer. Overall, the frequency of insomnia increased with increasing age, but with some notable differences with regard to type (initial insomnia showed little relation to age, whereas middle and late insomnia increased markedly with age) and seasonal type (insomnia in the midnight-sun period decreased with age, whereas the other seasonal types increased with age).

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Attention deficit disorders: a study of peptide-containing urinary complexes.

In several behavioral disorders, we have observed that abnormal amounts of peptides and protein-associated peptide complexes are excreted in the urine. The gel filtration patterns of these excreted substances have some specificity for the different disorders. The urinary excretion of peptide-containing complexes was studied in 91 boys and 13 girls (mean age 9.4 years, range 1-23) with the clinical diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD), with or without hyperactivity. The gel filtration of urine precipitate showed patterns in all patients that were different from those seen in 36 normal controls. Sixty-four patients had increased benzoic acid-glycoprotein-peptide complexes in the late peaks. The symptoms of all these patients fit the criteria for diagnosis of attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH). Thirty-five patients showed reduced amounts of uric acid complexes in the late peaks. Clinically, this group, with the exception of three patients, fit the criteria for diagnosis of attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity. Five patients showed reduced amounts of all urinary complexes; four of these were hyperactive. Moderate exercise in control children did not change the urinary pattern. One urinary peptide fraction from hyperactive patients, purified to homogeneity, increased the uptake of 14C[5-HT] in platelets. Strict clinical, neuropsychological, and psychophysiological selection of the patients reduced the heterogeneity of the patterns. Although more studies are needed, the findings seem promising for the possibility of developing biochemical tests that may be helpful diagnostically.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

The uptake, storage, and efflux of serotonin in platelets from migraine patients.

A recently developed method for analysing 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) efflux from platelets preloaded with a small amount of 14C-5-HT enables the assessment of the relative size of the granular and the cytoplasmatic pools of 5-HT within the platelets and of the rate of spontaneous efflux from these two compartments. This method, together with conventional assessment of the 5-HT uptake measures Km and Vmax, was applied in this study, comparing platelets from 14 patients with common migraine and 10 patients with classic migraine with platelets from 25 healthy controls. All patients were unmedicated and in an attack-free period. Neither the total patient group nor either of the two subgroups differed significantly from the control group on any measure of 5-HT uptake or efflux. However, two differences approached the conventional significance level: the relative size of the granular compartment (Compartment III) was larger for classic than for common migraine, and the efflux rate from Compartment III was shorter for classic migraine than for the healthy controls (P approximately 0.10 in both cases). Further studies are required to show whether these differences are real and, if so, whether they have any relevance for the pathogenesis of migraine attacks.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Effects of the benzodiazepine receptor ligands midazolam, Ro 15-1788, and Ro 5-4864, alone and in combinations, on platelet serotonin uptake.

The benzodiazepine (BZ) agonist midazolam, the BZ antagonist Ro 15-1788, and the peripheral BZ binding site ligand Ro 5-4864 have been assessed, separately and in combinations, as to their effect on the active uptake of serotonin (5HT) in human blood platelets in vitro, in an artificial, protein-free medium. Midazolam had a moderate noncompetitive (or mixed competitive/noncompetitive) inhibitory effect on the uptake. This effect was not influenced by Ro 15-1788, which in itself had only a very weak inhibitory effect. Ro 4-5864 showed in several independent experiments (but not always) a biphasic inhibitory effect, with a moderate but significant inhibition in the concentration range of about 10(-8) to 10(-6) M, and a stronger, noncompetitive inhibitory effect above 10(-6) M. When Ro 5-4864 was tested in the presence of a fixed concentration of midazolam (4 X 10(-6) M), the inhibitory effect of the former was markedly reduced (at higher concentrations), eliminated (at intermediate concentrations), or even reversed into a relative stimulatory effect (at low concentrations). Thus, low concentrations of Ro 5-4864 reduced the inhibitory effect of midazolam. A possible explanation of this interaction is that low concentrations of Ro 5-4864 have both an inhibitory and a stimulatory effect on platelet 5HT uptake (often seen to vary in relative strength between experiments), and that the stimulatory component is unmasked in the presence of a drug that already has an inhibitory effect, probably mediated by the same site.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Benzodiazepines↗
PubMed1985

Relationship between clinical effects, serum drug concentration and serotonin uptake inhibition in depressed patients treated with citalopram. A double-blind comparison of three dose levels.

Three dose levels (5, 25, and 50 mg once daily) of the selective serotonin uptake inhibitor citalopram were compared in a four-week, double-blind trial in depressed patients. Serum levels of citalopram and desmethylcitalopram, and the inhibitory effect of serum on serotonin uptake by fresh platelets, were assessed once weekly during the trial. The serum concentrations of citalopram were highly correlated with inhibition of serotonin uptake. Less of the metabolite was found, it being detected only in the higher dose groups. Steady state levels of citalopram, attained after 1 week, were linearly related to dose. The relationship between improvement (percentage reduction in total score on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale) and serum level of citalopram indicated a lower limit of effect in endogenous depression at about 100 nM, corresponding to an average dose of 15 mg. Marked improvement was seen in ten patients with steady state levels in the range 70 to 335 nM. The ten nonendogenously depressed patients had steady state levels from 15 to 620 nM; complete remission was seen in the three with the lowest levels (15-25 nM). No significant correlation was found between serum drug level and the few reported side effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Lactate-induced panic attacks: possible involvement of serotonin reuptake stimulation.

In panic disorder patients, panic attacks can be precipitated with great regularity by intravenous infusion of lactate. The mechanism behind this effect, as well as the mechanism behind the spontaneously occurring panic attacks, are unknown, however. The author draws attention to the fact that lactate as well as pyruvate stimulate serotonin uptake in human blood platelets, and suggests that lactate infusion may stimulate serotonin reuptake also in central serotonergic neurons, thereby decreasing serotonergic activity. This may possibly induce anxiety by reducing the inhibitory serotonergic influence on locus ceruleus. This mechanism--which may not be the only one involved in lactate-induced panic attacks--would easily explain the effect of tricyclic antidepressants, like imipramine, against lactate-induced panic.

Blood Platelets↗
PubMed1985

Insomnia during the "dark period" in northern Norway. An explorative, controlled trial with light treatment.

Midwinter insomnia (MI) is an initial type insomnia that is typically seen north of the Polar Circle during the "dark period", when the sun does not rise above the horizon. The cause of MI is not known, but it seems reasonable to assume that it is the expression of a phase delay of the sleep-wake cycle, due to lack of the entraining effect of normal daylight. Based on his hypothesis, we have studied the effect of intensive light exposure (2000-2500 lux for half an hour between 7.30 and 8.30 a.m. for 5 days) on selected sleep and endocrinological variables (the latter will be reported elsewhere) in nine subjects with typical MI and eight healthy controls. After light exposure, the MI subjects had a significantly shortened sleep latency and a nonsignificant increase in total sleep time. Before light exposure, the MI subjects reported significantly less drowsiness in the evening than in the morning, whereas the opposite was true after light exposure. No significant changes were seen in the control group. The results of this study give some support to the delayed phase hypothesis.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

From clomipramine to mianserin: therapeutic relevance of interactions with serotonin uptake and storage, as studied in the blood platelet model.

Inhibition of active serotonin uptake into neurones and platelets is a common effect of tricyclic and related antidepressants, and has been regarded as one of the more important mechanisms of action of such drugs. However, as is shown in this survey, the antidepressants vary widely in their potency as inhibitors of platelet serotonin uptake, and they also differ in the type of inhibition kinetics, from purely competitive to mixed competitive/noncompetitive. The therapeutic relevance of this effect is discussed. Serotonin uptake inhibition seems to be one of several mechanisms for obtaining the required normalization of monoamine dysfunction in depression. Analysis of efflux from platelets preloaded with a moderate amount of 14C-serotonin provides information on the storage and compartmentation of serotonin in the platelets, and on the rate of efflux from the different compartments. When present during the preloading phase, some antidepressants seem to produce a relative increase in serotonin in the granular storage compartment when compared to the smaller cytoplasmic compartment. This effect is in some respects opposite to that exerted by reserpine, and possibly may be pharmacologically relevant.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1984

Platelet serotonin uptake inhibition as a basis for monitoring antidepressant drug treatment.

A quantitative method for measuring serotonin uptake inhibition in fresh platelets incubated in diluted plasma (stored frozen until analyzed) from patients treated with tricyclic and related antidepressants is described. The method was used in a clinical trial comparing the specific serotonin uptake inhibitor zimelidine with the mixed serotonin-norepinephrine uptake inhibitor desipramine in patients with endogenous depression, and correlating this with plasma drug concentration assessment. The bioassay, based on the use of one single, low concentration of serotonin, was found to be very sensitive and to have a high reliability (coefficient of variation about 2% as calculated from duplicate samples), and to correlate highly with log plasma concentration of zimelidine, norzimelidine, and of desipramine. This bioassay may have some advantages in relation to plasma drug concentration assessment, but only future studies can show whether it provides a better basis for antidepressant drug monitoring.

Adult↗