PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Shu-Ichi Ueno

Publications and source records attributed to Shu-Ichi Ueno.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism in schizophrenia is associated with age at onset and symptoms.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a neurotrophic factor that promotes several functions of neurons and modulates neurotransmissions. It has been reported that there are alterations of BDNF levels in schizophrenic brains and that BDNF gene expressional changes would be responsible for the etiology of schizophrenia. Recent studies have shown that a variation of BDNF gene (Val66Met polymorphism) affects the function of neurons, and is associated with several neurological and psychiatrical disorders. We investigated the relationship between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and the onset age as well as levels of clinical symptoms in 159 of chronic schizophrenia in-patients diagnosed by DSM-IV. The mean onset ages were 27.5+/-9.5 for BDNF Val/Val, 25.5+/-7.4 for BDNF Val/Met and 22.9+/-6.0 for BDNF Met/Met and this polymorphism was significantly associated with age at onset (P=0.023). The mean Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores (BPRS) were significantly different among those three groups (P=0.003). No significant differences were demonstrated comparing the BDNF genotype distributions of positive and negative family history (P=0.21). Our investigation indicates that the BDNF gene Val66Met polymorphism is related to the onset age of schizophrenia and the levels of clinical symptoms that remain after long-term antipsychotic treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Subjective and objective measures of quality of life have different predictors for people with schizophrenia.

This study investigated the relationship between subjective and objective quality of life and assessed predictors in people with schizophrenia. The study population consisted of 99 stabilized outpatients with schizophrenia (DSM-IV) who had been regularly receiving outpatient treatment at the Department of Psychiatry, The Tokushima University Hospital. Subjective and objective quality of life were estimated using the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale and the Quality of Life Scale, respectively. Psychiatric symptoms were also measured with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia. Scores on the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale Motivation and Energy scales significantly correlated with the Quality of Life Scale total scores -.40 (p <.001), and with the scores on Interpersonal Relations subscale -.42 (p <.001), Instrumental Role subscale -.28 (p = .005), Intrapsychic Foundations subscale -.39 (p<.001), and Common Objects and Activities subscale -.25 (p =.014). The Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale Psychosocial scale significantly correlated with only the Quality of Life Scale total score -.20 (p =.05), and there was no significant correlation between the scores on the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale Symptoms and Side-effects scales and the Quality of Life Scale. Stepwise regression analyses showed that the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia score was the most important predictor of each scale of the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale Negative Symptoms score was the most important predictor of the Quality of Life Scale total score and each subscale. These results suggest that subjective and objective quality of life have different predictors and should be considered as separate and complementary outcome variables.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Positional candidate approach for the gene responsible for benign adult familial myoclonic epilepsy.

Benign adult familial myoclonic epilepsy (BAFME) is an autosomal dominant idiopathic epileptic syndrome characterized by adult-onset tremulous finger movement, myoclonus, epileptic seizures, and nonprogressive course, recognized in Japanese families. We recently assigned the gene locus to chromosome 8q23.3-q24.11 by linkage analysis. In this study, we identified the sequence of human cDNA encoding Kv8.1, a neuronal modulatory alpha-subunit of the voltage-gated potassium channel, mapped to human chromosome 8q22.3-8q24.1. Human Kv8.1 cDNA had a 1,500-nucleotide open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 500 amino acids, in which six hydrophobic transmembrane segments were well conserved, and its overall amino acids homology as compared with those of rat and golden hamster was 95.0% and 95.0%. Tissue-distribution analysis by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) showed the presence of the Kv 8.1 transcript exclusively in the brain. The analysis of the genomic organization of the human gene revealed consistency of three exons interrupted by two introns each of 1.2 and 3.5 kb. We analyzed the genomic sequence of the patients with BAFME and found no change in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[A case of motor neuron disease with progressive aphasia and dementia].

We report a 71-year-old woman showing rapidly progressive non-fluent aphasia and dementia accompanied by motor neuron disease (MND). There was no family history of dementia or motor neuron disease. There was 10 months history of dysarthria and dysphagia. On examination, she showed profound difficulty in articulation. Her comprehension was impaired in that she was unable to obey three-stage command. Her written language was also impaired with phonological spelling errors, syntactic errors, and perseveration. Neuroradiological investigations showed atrophic changes and hypoperfusion of left temporal and bilateral parietal region revealed by MRI and SPECT, respectively. Her subsequent decline was rapid. It might be likely that aphasia is much more common in dementia with bulbar MND than is currently recognized because bulbar palsy might mask the language disorder.

Aged↗