| 1. |
- Atlas, Ann, et al.
(author)
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Acute psychotic symptoms in HIV-1 infected patients are associated with increased levels of kynurenic acid in cerebrospinal fluid.
- 2007
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In: Brain, behavior, and immunity. - : Elsevier BV. - 0889-1591 .- 1090-2139. ; 21:1, s. 86-91
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is associated with psychiatric complications including cognitive impairment, affective disorders, and psychosis. Previous studies have revealed a disturbed kynurenine metabolism in these patients leading to increased levels of neuroactive compounds acting at glutamatergic neurotransmission. Kynurenic acid (KYNA), one of these metabolites is a glutamate-receptor antagonist, preferentially blocking the glycine site of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Increased levels of brain KYNA have been suggested to induce a NMDA receptor hypofunction that is associated with psychotic symptoms. In the present study, we analyze the concentration of KYNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from HIV-1 infected patients (n=22), including HIV-1 infected patients with psychotic symptoms (n=8) and HIV-1 infected patients without psychiatric symptoms (n=14). We found that HIV-1 infected patients had significantly higher median concentration of CSF KYNA (3.02nM) compared to healthy controls (1.17nM). Furthermore, CSF KYNA levels were significantly elevated in HIV-1 infected patients with psychotic symptoms (4.54nM) compared to patients with HIV-1 without psychiatric symptoms (2.28nM). Present results indicate that increased levels of CSF KYNA may be associated with development of psychotic symptoms in HIV-1 infected patients.
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| 2. |
- Brändström, Sven, 1952-
(author)
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Personality and its complexity : An investigation of the Swedish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory
- 2009
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In former days the descriptions of personality were based on typologies, reflecting the view that people do not change over time and so have a stable, life-long personality type. Later on exclusive categories were created, but during recent times the understanding of personality has changed due to more dimensional and dynamic thinking.Cloninger’s personality theory integrates concepts and research findings from neuroanatomy, neurophysiology of behavior and learning, and from developmental, social and clinical psychology. It is postulated that the behavioural systems of temperament and character are related to two major neural systems for the adaptation of experiences on various levels. The continuous interaction between temperament and character affects the personality development in both directions; temperament impacts upon character and vice versa during life.The development of the TCI was founded on the development of the biosocial theory of personality, which in turn stimulated the further development of the theory. Unfortunately this theory-based approach is not commonly used in the development of personality measurements. The development of a personality questionnaire on the basis of the theory must be viewed as a significant challenge, and this prompted my interest in dealing with and learning more about this personality assessment method.The objectives of this thesis were a critical evaluation of Cloninger’s theory; a test of its applicability in psychiatric science; and an attempt to contribute to its development.The main findings of our investigations can be described as follows:The adaptation of the Swedish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was successful and the seven factor structure of Cloninger’s biopsychological theory of personality theory was mainly confirmed by the Swedish normative data and by cross-cultural comparisons between data from Germany, Sweden and the U.S.A.The results concerning internal consistency and factor structure further underline that the adult version of the TCI is unsuitable for use in adolescents before age of 17 years. For the adolescents the junior TCI is recommended.Furthermore temperament dimensions seem to be more stable over time compared to the character dimensions. The gender and age differences found suggest that both have to be taken into account in research and clinical application.The results from our studies suggested that the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) has to be evaluated as a useful tool within the process of validation of diagnosis of a Personality Disorder (PD), especially in clinical practice where it is often difficult to recognise all a patient’s personality disturbances during a short time. Use of the TCI is likely to improve understanding, classification, and subsequently the interpretations in clinical settings.
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| 3. |
- Bång, Magnus, 1967-, et al.
(author)
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Mobile phone computing for in-situ cognitive-behavioral therapy
- 2007
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In: MedINFO 2007,2007. - : IOS Press. - 9781586037741 ; , s. 1078-1082
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for psychological disorders is becoming increasingly popular on the Internet. However when using this workstation approach, components such as training and learning relaxation skills, problem solving, exposure exercises, and sleep management guidance must be done in the domestic environment. This paper describes design concepts for providing spatially explicit CBT with mobile phones. We reviewed and analyzed a set of treatment manuals to distinguish elements of CBT that can be improved and supported using mobile phone applications. The key advantage of mobile computing support in CBT is that multimedia can be applied to record, scale, and label anxiety-provoking situations where the need arises, which helps the CBT clients formulate and convey their thoughts and feelings to relatives and friends, as well as to therapists at subsequent treatment sessions.
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| 4. |
- Hashimoto, Kenji, et al.
(author)
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Elevated glutamine/glutamate ratio in cerebrospinal fluid of first episode and drug naive schizophrenic patients
- 2005
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In: BMC Psychiatry. - 1471-244X. ; 5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Recent magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies report that glutamine is altered in the brains of schizophrenic patients. There were also conflicting findings on glutamate in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of schizophrenic patients, and absent for glutamine. This study aims to clarify the question of glutamine and glutamate in CSF of first episode and drug naive schizophrenic patients. Method: Levels of glutamine and glutamate in CSF of 25 first episode and drug-naive male schizophrenic patients and 17 age-matched male healthy controls were measured by a high performance liquid chromatography. Results: The ratio (126.1 (median), 117.7 ± 27.4 (mean ± S.D.)) of glutamine to glutamate in the CSF of patients was significantly (z = -3.29, p = 0.001) higher than that (81.01 (median), 89.1 ± 22.5 (mean ± S.D.)) of normal controls although each level of glutamine and glutamate in patients was not different from that of normal controls. Conclusion: Our data suggests that a disfunction in glutamate-glutamine cycle in the brain may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. © 2005 Hashimoto et al, licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Lindström, L, et al.
(author)
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Elevated levels of kynurenic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid of male patients with schizophrenia.
- 2005
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In: Schizophrenia research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0920-9964 .- 1573-2509. ; 80:2-3, s. 315-22
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Previous studies have shown that endogenous brain levels of kynurenic acid (KYNA), a glutamate receptor antagonist, are elevated in patients with schizophrenia. Here we analyse KYNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from a large cohort, including male healthy controls (n=49) and male patients with schizophrenia (n=90). We found that male patients with schizophrenia had significantly higher levels of CSF KYNA compared to healthy male controls (1.45 nM+/-0.10 vs. 1.06 nM+/-0.06 in the control group). Furthermore, when the patients with schizophrenia were divided into subgroups we found that CSF KYNA levels were significantly elevated in drug-naïve, first episode patients (1.53 nM+/-0.19, n=37) and in patients undergoing treatment with antipsychotic drugs (1.53 nM+/-0.17, n=34) compared to healthy male controls. No elevated CSF KYNA levels were detected in drug-free patients with schizophrenia, i.e. patients previously undergoing antipsychotic medications but drug-free at time of sampling (1.16 nM+/-0.10, n=19). Present results confirm that CSF KYNA concentration is elevated in patients with schizophrenia and are consistent with the hypothesis that KYNA contributes to the pathophysiology of the disease.
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| 7. |
- Lundberg, Kristina, 1978-, et al.
(author)
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Diurnal and seasonal variation of cholecystokinin peptides in humans
- 2007
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In: Neuropeptides. - : Elsevier BV. - 0143-4179 .- 1532-2785. ; 41:1, s. 59-63
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cholecystokinin (CCK) was determined in plasma obtained from 10 female (aged 23.4 ± SD 2.3 years) and nine male (aged 22.0 ± SD 1.4 years) healthy volunteers. Blood samples were drawn three times (8.00 a.m., 12 noon and 8.00 a.m.) on each of two sessions, one in the winter (November-December) and one in the summer (April-July). The participants had fasted (and were nicotine-free) since midnight preceding the sampling. A standardized breakfast was served after the first sampling. CCK was determined by radioimmunoassay. The area under the curve 0-24 h (AUC)CCK Winter was lower than AUCCCK Summer (F1:17 = 4.73, P = 0.0440) in the whole group of volunteers. On comparing the CCK concentrations within each session, there was an overall difference in winter (F2:36 = 14.81, P < 0.0001) as well in summer (F2:36 = 18.39, P < 0.0001). Post hoc comparisons yielded a difference between the 8.00 a.m. and 12 noon concentrations on the first day in winter (t = -3.96, P = 0.0009) as well as in summer (t = -4.64, P = 0.0002). The difference between the summer and winter AUCsCCK correlated with the difference between AUCs for temperatures in summer and winter (r = 0.58, P = 0.0089). The correlation was accounted for by the females (r = 0.73, P = 0.0171). The results are in accord with a diurnal and a seasonal variation of CCK in human plasma. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 8. |
- Nilsson, Linda K, et al.
(author)
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Cerebrospinal fluid kynurenic acid in male and female controls - Correlation with monoamine metabolites and influences of confounding factors
- 2007
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In: Journal of Psychiatric Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-3956 .- 1879-1379. ; 41:1-2, s. 144-151
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The concentrations of the tryptophan metabolite kynurenic acid (KYNA) and the monoamine metabolites homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylglycol (HMPG) were determined in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 43 healthy volunteers (30 males and 13 females). Healthy female controls displayed higher CSF concentration of KYNA (1.91 nM ± 0.20) compared to healthy male controls (1.06 nM ± 0.07) and lower CSF levels of HMPG (39.2 nM ± 2.0 and 43.4 ± 1.2, respectively). CSF levels of HVA and 5-HIAA did not differ between females (181.3 nM ± 21.9 and 93.7 nM ± 11.4, respectively) and males (138.9 nM ± 12.6 and 74.8 nM ± 5.9, respectively). Positive intercorrelations were found between CSF KYNA, HVA and 5-HIAA while CSF content of HMPG did not correlate with KYNA or the other monoamine metabolites in CSF. A negative correlation was found between back length and CSF concentrations of KYNA, HVA and 5-HIAA and also between CSF KYNA levels and body height. The results of the present study suggest that concentrations of KYNA and the monoamine metabolites in CSF from healthy controls are dependent on gender and back length, which must be taken in consideration when analysing mixed groups of men and women. The higher KYNA concentration found in female controls compared to male might be attributed to a shorter back in women compared to men. Furthermore, these findings suggest that increased KYNA formation is associated with an increased dopamine and serotonin turnover. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Nilsson-Todd, Linda K, et al.
(author)
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Cerebrospinal fluid kynurenic acid in male patients with schizophrenia - Correlation with monoamine metabolites
- 2007
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In: Acta Neuropsychiatrica. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0924-2708 .- 1601-5215. ; 19:1, s. 45-52
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The tryptophan metabolite kynurenic acid (KYNA) is an endogenous glutamate/nicotinic receptor antagonist. Previous studies have shown that the concentration of the compound is increased in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, it has been found that the CSF concentration of KYNA is positively correlated to CSF concentrations of the monoamine metabolites homovanillic acid (HVA) and 5-hydroxy indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in healthy control subjects. Objectives: To study the correlations between KYNA and the monoamine metabolites HVA, 5-HIAA and 4-hydroxy-3- methoxyphenylglycol (HMPG) in CSF of male patients (n = 53, ranging from 20 to 48 years of age) with verified schizophrenia. Methods: CSF was obtained by lumbar puncture, and KYNA analysis was performed with an isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography system connected to a fluorescence detector. HVA, 5-HIAA and HMPG concentrations were measured by mass fragmentography with deuterium-labelled internal standards. Results: Positive intercorrelations were found between CSF KYNA, HVA and 5-HIAA, while CSF content of HMPG did not correlate to KYNA or any of the monoamine metabolites in CSF. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that increased KYNA formation is associated with an increased dopamine and serotonin turnover in male patients with schizophrenia. © 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard.
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| 10. |
- Nordin, Conny, 1944-, et al.
(author)
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Cerebrospinal fluid amino acids in pathological gamblers and healthy controls
- 2007
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In: Neuropsychobiology. - : S. Karger AG. - 0302-282X .- 1423-0224. ; 56:2-3, s. 152-158
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amino acids, such as valine, isoleucine and leucine compete with tyrosine and tryptophan for transport into the brain and might thus affect the central serotonin and catecholamine patterns. Furthermore, the excitatory amino acids glutamic acid, aspartic acid and glycine are known to act on the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, which is part of the reward system. Based on these facts, we have explored the role of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amino acids in pathological gambling. Concentrations of amino acids were determined in CSF obtained from one female and 11 pathological male gamblers and 11 healthy male controls. In an ANCOVA with best subset regression, pathological male gamblers had higher CSF levels of the excitatory glutamic and aspartic acids, as well as of phenylalanine, isoleucine, citrulline and glycine. A negative contribution of glycine in interaction with the neuraxis distance might mirror a reduced spinal supply or an altered elimination of glycine in pathological gamblers. A decreasing CSF gradient from the first (0-6 ml) to the third (13-18 ml) CSF fraction was found for glutamic acid, glycine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, ornithine and glutamine in both pathological gamblers and healthy controls. A decreasing gradient was found, however, for aspartic acid and phenylalanine in pathological male gamblers. The altered pattern of CSF amino acids in pathological gamblers might exert an influence on central monoamines as well as on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor function. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG.
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