Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Clozapine Is Associated With Secondary Antibody Deficiency, Mark Ponsford, Daniel Castle, Tayyeb Tahir, Rebecca Robinson, Wendy Wade, Rachael Steven, Kathryn Bramhall, Mo Moody Mo Moody, Emily Carne, Catherine Ford

Brain and Mind Institute

Background: Schizophrenia affects 1% of the population. Clozapine is the only medication licensed for treatment-resistant schizophrenia and is intensively monitored to prevent harm from neutropenia. Clozapine is also associated with increased risk of pneumonia although the mechanism is poorly understood.AimsTo investigate the potential association between clozapine and antibody deficiency.

Methods: Patients taking clozapine and patients who were clozapine-naive and receiving alternative antipsychotics were recruited and completed a lifestyle, medication and infection-burden questionnaire. Serum total immunoglobulins (immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgA, IgM) and specific IgG antibodies to haemophilus influenzae type B, tetanus and IgG, IgA and IgM to pneumococcus were measured.

Results: Immunoglobulins …

Palatable Food Dampens The Long-Term Behavioral And Endocrine Effects Of Juvenile Stressor Exposure But May Also Provoke Metabolic Syndrome In Rats, Eliza Fatima Ali, Jennifer Christine Mackay, Samantha Graitson, Jonathan Stewart James, Christian Cayer, Marie-Claude Audet, Pamela Kent, Alfonso Abizaid, Zul Premji

Brain and Mind Institute

The juvenile period is marked by a reorganization and growth of important brain regions including structures associating with reward seeking behaviors such as the nucleus accumbens (NA) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). These changes are impacted by stressors during the juvenile period and may lead to a predisposition to stress induced psychopathology and abnormal development of brain reward systems. Like in humans, adult rodents engage certain coping mechanisms such as increases in the consumption of calorie-rich palatable foods to reduce stress, but this behavior can lead to obesity and metabolic disorders. In this study, we examined whether stressors during the juvenile …

Association Between A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism In Neuregulin-1 And Schizophrenia In Pakistani Patients, Haider Ali Naqvi, Shafqat Huma, Hira Waseem, Kashaf Aqeel Zaidi, Hina Saeed Zuberi, Syed Hani Abidi

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Objective: To determine the association of single-nucleotide polymorphism8nrg433E1006 in the neuregulin-1 gene associated with schizophrenia.
Methods: This case-control study was conducted at the Fountain House, Lahore, and the psychiatric clinics at the Aga Khan University, Karachi, from 2010 to 2013.The total genomic deoxyribonucleic acid was isolated and single-nucleotide polymorphism8nrg433E1006 was screened by nested polymerase chain reaction followed by sequencing. These sequences, from patients and controls, were aligned with the human neuregulin-1-glial growth factor 2 gene sequence, which served as a reference sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism genetic algorithm was characterised at position 433 in the neuregulin-1 gene by …

Stress Of Infertility: Can The Couple Cope?, Faiza Alam, Taseer Ahmed Khan, Rehana Rehman

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Loss Of Mecp2 In Adult 5-Ht Neurons Induces 5-Ht1a Autoreceptors, With Opposite Sex-Dependent Anxiety And Depression Phenotypes, Tristan J. Philippe, Faranak Vahid-Ansari, Zoe R. Donaldson, Brice Le François, Amin Zahrai, Valérie Turcotte-Cardin, Mireille Daigle, Jonathan James, René Hen, Zul Merali, Paul R. Albert

Brain and Mind Institute

The 5-HT1A autoreceptor mediates feedback inhibition of serotonin (5-HT) neurons, and is implicated in major depression. The human 5-HT1A gene (HTR1A) rs6295 risk allele prevents Deaf1 binding to HTR1A, resulting in increased 5-HT1A autoreceptor transcription. Since chronic stress alters HTR1A methylation and expression, we addressed whether recruitment of methyl-binding protein MeCP2 may alter Deaf1 regulation at the HTR1A locus. We show that MeCP2 enhances Deaf1 binding to its HTR1A site and co-immunoprecipitates with Deaf1 in cells and brain tissue. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed Deaf1-dependent recruitment of MeCP2 to the mouse HTR1A promoter, and MeCP2 modulated human and mouse HTR1A gene …

Evaluation Of Alcohol Screening And Community-Based Brief Interventions In Rural Western Kenya: A Quasi-Experimental Study, Risa Takahashi, Calistus Wilunda, Karani Magutah, Wanja Mwaura-Tenambergen, Lukoye Atwoli, Usaneya Perngparn

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Aims:To assess the effectiveness of community-based alcohol brief interventions (ABI) implemented by community-health workers with and without motivational talks (MT) by former drinkers, in reducing harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption. Methods:We conducted a three-arm quasi-experimental study (one control and two intervention groups) between May and December 2015 in Kakamega County, Kenya. Participants were hazardous or harmful alcohol drinkers with an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score of 8–19 at baseline. One intervention group received only ABI while the other received ABI + MT. The interventions’ effects on AUDIT scores were analysed using linear mixed models. Logistic regression …