Search NEL Online

Journal Article 2011; 32(4): 442-448 PubMed PMID: 21876493 Citation  Keywords:  Adolescent, Adult, Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate:blood, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone:blood, MMPI, Male, Middle Aged, Personality:physiology, Pituitary-Adrenal System:physiology, Retrospective Studies, Stress, Psychological:physiopathology, Type A Perso.   

OBJECTIVES: Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate (DHEAS) physiologic relevance remains controversial. However, several central nervous system and behavioural effects of DHEAS have been described. We explored the relation between DHEAS and both pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity and personality in human subjects.

DESIGN: We studied 120 consecutive patients assisted at the out patient endocrine department of a public central hospital before medical treatment. Personality was evaluated with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity was assessed with the CRH test.

RESULTS: Baseline DHEAS was inversely related to peak/basal cortisol (parcial r=-0.454, p<0.05) response to CRH infusion. DHEAS reactivity in the CRH test was directly related to the Deviant Behaviour triad (BD) (r=0.257, p<0.05) and type A personality (AP) (r=0.295, p<0.05). Basal ACTH was directly related to baseline DHEAS (r=0.366, p<0.001) and together with age and gender explained 34% of DHEAS variability.

CONCLUSIONS: DHEAS may be a protective factor against an excessive cortisol response when people are under stress situations. Personality may be related to DHEAS reactivity....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2011; 32(4): 510-517 PubMed PMID: 21876486 Citation  Keywords:  Animal Feed, Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena:physiology, Animals, Animals, Suckling:growth & development, Colostrum:metabolism, Dietary Supplements, Esters:pharmacokinetics, Eukaryota, Fatty Acids:pharmacokinetics, Female, Iodine:pharmacokineti.   

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to compare iodine utilization from different sources by sows and their progeny and the levels of T3 and T4 in their serum.

DESIGN: Pregnant Czech Large White × Landrace sows were fed with an experimental KPK diet (a diet for lactating sows) 14 days before parturition until weaning (at a piglet age of 28 days). In group A (n=50, 10 sows, 40 piglets) the feed was supplemented with KI (0.6 mg of iodine per kg of feed). Iodine enriched alga Chlorella spp. (0.6 mg of iodine per kg of feed) was used as a supplement in group B (n=50, 10 sows, 40 piglets). In group C (n=50, 10 sows, 40 piglets) the sows were injected i.m. with IFAE at a dose of 100 mg of iodine per sow. Iodine, T3 and T4 were measured in each group for comparison of iodine utilization.

RESULTS: The use of IFAE resulted in higher serum concentrations in sows compared to KI and alga. In contrast, iodine concentrations in milk and piglets were lower when IFAE were used. We found a wide variation in the concentrations of T3 and T4 in the serum of piglets in all groups.

CONCLUSION: Our results indicate a good utilization of iodized oil by sows. However, its transfer into milk is lower compared to the other iodine sources....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2011; 32(3): 354-359 PubMed PMID: 21712788 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Age of Onset, Attention:physiology, Cognition:physiology, Cognition Disorders:etiology, Executive Function, Female, Humans, Learning:physiology, Male, Memory:physiology, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychomotor Performance:physiology, Spi.   

OBJECTIVES: Cognitive disorders and dementia occur in 19 to 42% of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2). Neuropsychological tests can reveal executive dysfunction, impaired visual and verbal memory, tongue and speech impairment, attention disorders and impaired verbal fluency.

METHODS: We performed psychiatric and neuropsychological examinations in 12 patients diagnosed with genetically confirmed SCA2 and 12 healthy volunteers matching the patients in age, gender, and length of education. The level of motor impairment was determined using the brief ataxia rating scale (BARS). The neuropsychological examination focused on testing executive functions, short-term visual and verbal memory, attention, psychomotor tempo, visual motor coordination, learning ability and comprehension ability. The tests were divided into two subgroups according to the difficulty of motor tasks. The cognitive abilities composite score (CACS) was determined by calculating the arithmetic mean of T scores of the respective tests.

RESULTS: Patients with SCA2 had significantly lower CACSs (p=0.00005) compared to the healthy volunteers. Patients exhibited impaired performance in both difficult and simple motor tests. The severity of cognitive impairment was related to the age at the onset of the disease (p=0.002) but not to the duration or to the overall BARS score.

CONCLUSIONS: Compared to healthy volunteers, patients with SCA2 exhibited significantly worse cognitive performance in all areas tested, including the tests of simple motor tasks. Moreover, the cognitive performance of patients worsened as the difficulty of the motor tasks increased....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Case Reports 2011; 32(3): 226-233 PubMed PMID: 21712779 Citation  Keywords:  Administration, Cutaneous, Adult, Capsaicin:administration & dosage, Electric Stimulation Therapy, Electrodes, Implanted, Female, Humans, Neuralgia:psychology, Neurologic Examination, Neurosurgery, Peripheral Nerves:physiology, Ulnar Nerve:physiology, Uln.   

: Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is a neurostimulation analgesic technique. PNS is utilized to treat peripheral neuropathic pain. It is highly sophisticated and a specialized technique used where other forms of treatment have failed. This paper describes the PNS procedure, its therapeutic principles, indications, and the comprehensive care for patients after the PNS implant. First, we summarize our experience using this type of invasive treatment. In the second part, a case of intractable neuropathic pain following repeated surgery to the ulnar nerve is reported. Prior to PNS, the patient underwent multiple types of antineuralgic treatment with no significant result. Only after the PNS application, was a significant analgesic effect achieved....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2011; 32(3): 279-285 PubMed PMID: 21712772 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Anxiety:psychology, Cognition:physiology, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Depression:psychology, Female, Humans, Hypothyroidism:blood, Male, Memory, Short-Term:drug effects, Neuropsychological Tests, Pilot Projects, Psychomotor Performance:physio.   

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our pilot study was to explore the relationship between serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels during overt hypothyroidism (OH) and hypothyroid-related neuropsychological symptoms. We hypothesized that TSH level may reflect the degree of 'brain hypothyroidism' such that an inverse correlation may exist between serum TSH and cognitive function in patients experiencing overt hypothyroidism (OH), and sought to explore this hypothesis.

METHODS: Eleven thyroidectomized patients underwent neuropsychological and thyroid function testing while overtly hypothyroid, and again following thyroid hormone replacement. Their test performance was compared with that of eleven healthy controls at a similarly separated two points in time, and the change over time for the patient group and the controls was likewise assessed and compared. The patients' neuropsychological test scores were then correlated with their serum TSH levels while hypothyroid.

RESULTS: The patients' performance while hypothyroid was worse than that of the controls in only one neurocognitive measure--Working Memory Index. The subjects improved similarly or to a greater degree than the controls, when the subjects were thyroid hormone replaced, on all but one neurocognitive measure - Thurstone Word Fluency. TSH level during hypothyroidism was inversely proportional to the patients' performance on these same two measures, but no others.

CONCLUSION: Serum TSH level during hypothyroidism was inversely proportional to performance on the only two neurocognitive measures evidencing an adverse effect from hypothyroidism in our cohort. This suggests that serum TSH level may reflect the severity of 'brain hypothyroidism' during the overt stage of this condition....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2011; 32(2): 111-120 PubMed PMID: 21552202 Citation  Keywords:  Adaptation, Psychological:physiology, Emotions:physiology, Humans, Integrative Medicine:methods, Interpersonal Relations, Mental Health, Neurosciences:methods, Object Attachment, Personality Development,.   

: Attachment theory is a very influential general concept of human social and emotional development, which emphasizes the role of early mother-infant interactions for infant's adaptive behavioural and stress copying strategies, personality organization and mental health. Individuals with disrupted development of secure attachment to mother/primary caregiver are at higher risk of developing mental disorders. This theory consists of the complex developmental psycho-neurobiological model of attachment and emerges from principles of psychoanalysis, evolutionary biology, cognitive-developmental psychology, ethology, physiology and control systems theory. The progress of modern neuroscience enables interpretation of neurobiological aspects of the theory as multi-level neural interactions and functional development of important neural structures, effects of neuromediattors, hormones and essential neurobiological processes including emotional, cognitive, social interactions and the special key role of mentalizing. It has multiple neurobiological, neuroendocrine, neurophysiological, ethological, genetic, developmental, psychological, psychotherapeutic and neuropsychiatric consequences and is a prototype of complex neuroscientific concept as interpretation of modern integrated neuroscience....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Clinical Trial 2011; 32(2): 141-147 PubMed PMID: 21552193 Citation  Keywords:  Adult, Antibodies:blood, Antipsychotic Agents:therapeutic use, Biomarkers:blood, Case-Control Studies, Dehydroepiandrosterone:analogs & derivatives, Female, Homocysteine:blood, Humans, Hydrocortisone:blood, Immunologic Factors:blood, Iodide Peroxidase:imm.   

OBJECTIVE: Serum levels of neuro- and immunomodulatory adrenal steroids together with selected hormonal, lipid and other relevant biochemical parameters were investigated to examine the differences between first-episode schizophrenia patients and age-matched healthy subjects, and the effect of treatment with atypical antipsychotics.

METHODS: The patient´s group consisted of 22 drug-naive patients (13 men and 9 women), diagnosed with schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria, before and after six-months treatment with atypical antipsychotics of olanzapine or non-olanzapine type. Biochemical markers included steroids cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, its sulfate, 7-hydroxylated metabolites of dehydroepiandrosterone, prolactin, thyrotropin, free thyroxine, autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin, glucose levels, four major lipid parameters, homocysteine and three other aminothiols. Steroids, prolactin and thyroid parameters were determined by radioimmunoassays, the other markers by standard biochemical methods.

RESULTS: Significantly lower dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and of 7α-hydroxy- dehydroepiandrosterone levels than in controls were found in male patients. In the female group, the only difference in steroid spectra was significantly higher cortisolemia in the patients. The patients had also higher titres of autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase. Compared to controls, the patients displayed worse lipid spectra, and higher homocysteinemia. Medication did not lead to significant changes in the parameters, with the exception of expected increase in prolactin levels in non-olanzapine treated subgroups.

CONCLUSION: Lower levels of 7α-hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone, abundant especially in brain, determined for the first time in schizophrenia patients, are in agreement with recent opinion of their neuroprotective and immunoprotective role. High levels of autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase in the patients support the autoimmunity hypothesis of schizophrenia....

Read abstract  Full text PDF

Journal Article 2011; 32(1): 7-24 PubMed PMID: 21407167 Citation  Keywords:  Animals, Comorbidity, Depression:epidemiology, Humans, Inflammation:epidemiology, Neuroimmunomodulation:physiology, Oxidative Stress:immunology, Reactive Nitrogen Species:metabolism, Signal Transduction:immunology, Stress, Psychological:epidemiology,.   

: There is now evidence that depression, as characterized by melancholic symptoms, anxiety, and fatigue and somatic (F&S) symptoms, is the clinical expression of peripheral cell-mediated activation, inflammation and induction of oxidative and nitrosative stress (IO&NS) pathways and of central microglial activation, decreased neurogenesis and increased apoptosis. This review gives an explanation for the multiple "co-morbidities" between depression and a large variety of a) brain disorders related to neurodegeneration, e.g. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke; b) medical disorders, such as cardiovascular disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut, diabetes type 1 and 2, obesity and the metabolic syndrome, and HIV infection; and c) conditions, such as hemodialysis, interferon-α-based immunotherapy, the postnatal period and psychosocial stressors. The common denominator of all those disorders/conditions is the presence of microglial activation and/or activation of peripheral IO&NS pathways. There is evidence that shared peripheral and / or central IO&NS pathways underpin the pathophysiology of depression and the previously mentioned disorders and that activation of these IO&NS pathways contributes to shared risk. The IO&NS pathways function as a smoke sensor that detect threats in the peripheral and central parts of the body and signal these threats as melancholic, anxiety, and fatigue and somatic (F&S) symptoms. The presence of concomitant depression is strongly associated with a lower quality of life and increased morbidity and mortality in medical disorders. This may be explained since depression contributes to increased (neuro)inflammatory burden and may therefore drive the inflammatory and degenerative progression. It is concluded that the activation of peripheral and / or central IO&NS pathways may explain the co-occurrence of depression with the above disorders. This shows that depression belongs to the spectrum of inflammatory and degenerative disorders....

Read abstract  Full text PDF