Electrocardiographic Changes During Initiation of Lithium Augmentation of Antidepressant Pharmacotherapy.

PURPOSE/BACKGROUND: Lithium augmentation of antidepressants represents a common strategy to overcome treatment resistance in patients with major depressive disorder. The use of lithium has been associated with cardiovascular adverse effects such as QTc prolongation and tachyarrhythmia. Although the previous studies investigated monotherapy with lithium, the aim of this study was to investigate electrocardiographic changes in LA. METHODS/PROCEDURES: A 12-lead surface electrocardiogram (ECG) was obtained from 38 patients with major depressive disorder before and during LA. Changes in heart rate, PQ, QRS and QTc interval, QT dispersion, ST segment, and T- and U-wave alterations were analyzed using a linear mixed model. FINDINGS/RESULTS: The ECG readings of 33 patients were evaluated. Lithium augmentation was not significantly associated with changes in heart rate, QTc, PQ, or QRS interval. We found a significant decrease in QT dispersion. These results were independent of sex, age, stable comedication, and comorbidities. During LA, we observed 9 cases of T-wave alterations and 2 cases of new U waves. CONCLUSIONS: Our data provide no evidence for serious ECG abnormalities at therapeutic serum lithium levels in patients treated with LA. In particular, we did not find evidence for QTc time lengthening or tachyarrhythmia, such as torsades des pointes. The recommended intervals for ECG checks should be considered to detect long-term effects of LA.

[Early Intervention in Schizophrenia - an Update]. / Frühintervention bei Schizophrenie ­ ein Update.

In Germany, psychoses are still diagnosed too late. The average duration of untreated psychosis is (DUP) one year. Early intervention should, therefore, be given higher priority. The shorter the duration of the DUP, the higher the probability of permanent recovery and a better long-term prognosis. Public education work and specialised early detection centres with low-threshold access can improve care and thus the prospects of patients, mostly young, and already in the early phase of the disease. In addition to anti-psychotic therapy, evidence-based psychotherapeutic procedures, family and peer work, as well as accompanying offers are necessary to support patients individually in being or remaining reintegrated into the labour market ("Individual Placement and Support", IPS). While in some countries, such as Denmark and Australia, the possibility of early intervention is already part of standard care, Germany has not yet gone beyond model projects. Changing this must be one of the main objectives for the coming years. With this review, the authors would therefore like to encourage further thinking and action.

Apparent motion perception in patients with paranoid schizophrenia.

Impaired perceptual inference has been suggested to be at the core of positive symptoms in schizophrenia. Apparent motion (AM) is a visual illusion in which perceptual inference gives rise to the experience of a single object moving back and forth when two spatially separated objects are flashed in alternation. Here, we investigated the strength of AM perception in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Patients were less susceptible to the illusion as indicated by a lower probability of motion perception at the individual's optimal presentation frequency for AM. In addition, the probability of AM perception was inversely related to delusional conviction in the patient group. These results suggest that schizophrenia may be associated with a reduced susceptibility to visual phenomena that commonly rely on perceptual inference.

Prevention of First-Episode Psychosis in People at Clinical High Risk: A Randomized Controlled, Multicentre Trial Comparing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Clinical Management Plus Low-Dose Aripiprazole or Placebo (PREVENT).

BACKGROUND: There is limited knowledge of whether cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) should be recommended as the first-line treatment in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHRp). HYPOTHESIS: To examine whether individual treatment arms are superior to placebo and whether CBT is non-inferior to SGAs in preventing psychosis over 12 months of treatment. STUDY DESIGN: PREVENT was a blinded, 3-armed, randomized controlled trial comparing CBT to clinical management plus aripiprazole (CM + ARI) or plus placebo (CM + PLC) at 11 CHRp services. The primary outcome was transition to psychosis at 12 months. Analyses were by intention-to-treat. STUDY RESULTS: Two hundred eighty CHRp individuals were randomized: 129 in CBT, 96 in CM + ARI, and 55 in CM + PLC. In week 52, 21 patients in CBT, 19 in CM + ARI, and 7 in CM + PLC had transitioned to psychosis, with no significant differences between treatment arms (P = .342). Psychopathology and psychosocial functioning levels improved in all treatment arms, with no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of the primary outcome transition to psychosis at 12 months and secondary outcomes symptoms and functioning did not demonstrate significant advantages of the active treatments over placebo. The conclusion is that within this trial, neither low-dose aripiprazole nor CBT offered additional benefits over clinical management and placebo.

Psychological and hormonal features of smokers at risk to gain weight after smoking cessation--results of a multicenter study.

Preclinical and clinical data suggest modulating effects of appetite-regulating hormones and stress perception on food intake. Nicotine intake also interferes with regulation of body weight. Especially following smoking cessation gaining weight is a common but only partially understood consequence. The aim of this study was to examine the interaction between smoking habits, the appetite regulating hormone leptin, negative affectivity, and stress vulnerability on eating behavior in a clinical case-control study under standardized conditions. In a large population-based study sample, we compared leptin and cortisol plasma concentrations (radioimmunoassay) between current tobacco smokers with high cognitive restraint and disinhibition in eating behavior and smokers scoring low in both categories as assessed with the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ; Stunkard & Messick, 1985). As a measure for smoking effects on the stress axis, the saliva cortisol concentrations were compared before and after nicotine smoking. Additionally, stress perception was assessed with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), symptoms of depression and anxiety with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). In smokers showing high cognitive restraint and disinhibition we found significantly higher leptin concentrations than in the group of smokers scoring low in both categories. Furthermore there was a significant group difference in saliva cortisol concentrations after nicotine intake. Smokers showing high cognitive restraint and disinhibition were also characterized by significantly higher scores in the STAI, the PSS and the BDI. Our results suggest that smokers with a pathological eating behavior show an impaired neuroendocrine regulation of appetite and are prone to experience higher levels of stress and negative affectivity. This interaction of behavioral and neuroendocrinological factors may constitute a high risk condition for gaining weight following smoking cessation.

The German multi-centre study on smoking-related behavior-description of a population-based case-control study.

Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for most of the diseases leading in mortality. Nicotine dependence (ND), which sustains regular smoking, is now acknowledged to be under substantial genetic control with some environmental contribution. At present, however, genetic studies on ND are mostly conducted in populations that have been poorly characterized with regard to ND-related phenotypes for the simple reason that the respective populations were not primarily collected to study ND. The German multi-centre study 'Genetics of Nicotine Dependence and Neurobiological Phenotypes', which is funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) as part of the Priority Program (Schwerpunktprogramm) SPP1226: 'Nicotine-Molecular and Physiological Effects in CNS', was intended to overcome some of these inherent problems of current genetic studies of ND. The multi-centre study is a population-based case-control study of smokers and never-smokers (n = 2396). The study was unique worldwide because it was the first large-scale genetic study specifically addressing ND with the collection of a wide range of environmental, psychosocial and neurobiological phenotypes. Study design and major population characteristics with emphasis on risk prediction of smoking status were presented in this paper.

P50 sensory gating and smoking in the general population.

P50 gating is a major functional biomarker in research on schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions with high smoking prevalence. It is used as endophenotype for studying nicotinic systems genetics and as surrogate endpoint measure for drug development of nicotinic agonists. Surprisingly, little is known about P50 gating in the general population and the relationship to smoking-related characteristics. In this multicenter study at six academic institutions throughout Germany, n=907 never-smokers (NS<20 cigarettes/lifetime), n=463 light smokers (LS) with Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND)≥4 and n=353 heavy smokers (HS, FTND<4) were randomly selected from the general population. As part of a standardized protocol for investigating the genetics of nicotine dependence (ND), an auditory P50 paradigm was applied. The main outcome measure was P50-amplitude difference followed by time-frequency analyses and functional imaging (sLORETA). Reduced P50 gating was found in HS compared to NS with LS taking an intermediate position-correlating with the degree of ND. sLORETA and time-frequency analyses indicate that high-frequency oscillations in frontal brain regions are particularly affected. With growing age, P50 gating increased in (heavy) smokers. This is the first large-scale study (normative sample data) on P50 sensory gating and smoking in the general population. Diminished gating of P50 and associated high-frequency oscillations in the frontal brain region are indications of a deficient inhibitory cortical function in nicotine-dependent smokers. The suitability and application of sensory P50 gating as functional biomarker with regard to genetic and pharmacological studies is discussed.

Oxazepam versus clomethiazol in alcohol withdrawal treatment.

The pharmacological management of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome associated with alcohol dependence is heterogeneous; however, according to the guidelines, clomethiazol is the standard medication in Germany. Benzodiazepines offer another safe possibility of treating alcohol withdrawal. In a retrospective study, alcohol-dependent patients treated either with oxazepam (n = 141) or clomethiazol (n = 357) were assessed with respect to the course of treatment and withdrawal symptoms. The results showed that under oxazepam treatment, there were fewer days with severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms and less severe adverse events, but patients receiving clomethiazol treatment had a more severe course of alcohol dependence. Oxazepam is a safe, efficient and cheap drug for the treatment of alcohol withdrawal symptoms, but controlled studies are needed to compare its effectiveness with that of clomethiazol.

Treatment response of lithium augmentation in geriatric compared to non-geriatric patients with treatment-resistant depression.

BACKGROUND: Lithium augmentation (LA) of antidepressants is an effective strategy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Nevertheless, it is rarely used in geriatric patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate treatment response of LA in geriatric compared to non-geriatric patients. METHOD: In a prospective multicenter cohort study, severity of depression was measured weekly in 167 patients with unipolar depression (nage≥65years = 22; nage<65years = 145) at baseline and over at least four weeks of LA. RESULTS: Geriatric patients showed a significantly better response to LA compared to non-geriatric patients (Hazard Ratio = 1.91; p = 0.04). LIMITATIONS: An important limitation of our study is the lack of a control group of LA and the missing evaluation of side effects in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study investigating the efficacy of LA for TRD in geriatric compared to non-geriatric patients. Our data suggest that LA is an effective treatment option in geriatric patients that clinicians might consider more frequently and earlier on in the course of treatment.

Negative schemata about the self and others and paranoid ideation in at-risk states and those with persisting positive symptoms.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to test the conflicting theories concerning the association of negative self and other schemata and paranoid ideation. METHODS: A risk-based approach, including risk stratification, is used to gain insight into the association of the negative self and other schemata that may be shared by individuals or differentiate between individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for a first-episode psychosis and those with full-blown psychosis. The dataset includes a sample of individuals at CHR (n = 137) and a sample of individuals with persisting positive symptoms (PPS, n = 211). The CHR sample was subdivided according to a prognostic index yielding 4 CHR sub-classes with increasing risk for transition to psychosis. RESULTS: Negative beliefs about the self were associated with paranoid ideation in CHR and a lower risk state. In the highest risk state and full-blown psychosis, there is an association with negative beliefs about others. CONCLUSION: These findings are in line with theories suggesting a switch from a predominantly activated negative self-schema to a malevolent others-schema in association with paranoid ideation along the risk-continuum. However, due to methodological limitations these results should be replicated by future studies.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in female and male patients at risk of psychosis.

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is one of the most common factors underlying the high rate of mortality observed in patients with schizophrenia. Recent research on this topic revealed that many of the patients studied were, in fact, in a medicated state. As such, it is unclear whether MetS is causally associated with the disorder itself or the medication used to treat it. In this study, patients with a clinically high risk of expressing first episode psychosis (CHR) were examined regarding the prevalence of MetS. N=144 unmedicated and antipsychotic-naïve CHR patients, aged between 18 and 42years and suffering from unmanifested prodromal symptoms, were compared with a cohort of N=3995 individuals from the "German Metabolic and Cardiovascular Risk Study" (GEMCAS). A slightly higher prevalence of individual MetS criteria was observed in the CHR group compared to the GEMCAS sample; specifically, the following were noted: a higher blood pressure (35.0% vs. 28.0%), increased waist circumference (17.6% vs. 15.1%), and increased fasting blood glucose (9.4% vs. 4.0%) in CHR patients. Additionally, the rate of reduced HDL cholesterol concentrations was lower in the control group (20.2% vs. 13.3%).

Clinical high risk for psychosis: gender differences in symptoms and social functioning.

AIM: Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder that presents differently in men and women: men show a higher propensity to negative symptoms, lower social functioning, earlier age at onset and co-morbid substance abuse, whereas women display more affective symptoms. It is unknown whether these differences extend to subjects at high risk (HR) of psychosis. Thus, the aim of the present study was to address this question. METHODS: Clinical symptoms and functioning were assessed using structured interviews in 239 HR subjects (female, n = 80). The definition of being at HR was based on the criteria used in the European Prediction of Psychosis Study (EPOS). RESULTS: Men displayed more pronounced negative symptoms, higher rates of past substance abuse disorders and higher deficits in social functioning. No gender difference was found for depression, which affected almost 50% of the cohort, or age at onset for the fulfilment of HR criteria. CONCLUSION: The higher impairment in specific symptoms observed in male schizophrenia patients was also present in subjects at HR for psychosis. Further studies are required to determine whether these symptoms are gender-specific predictors of transition to psychosis and whether they warrant gender-specific interventions. The high propensity to depression in the present cohort, which was particularly pronounced in the male cohort compared with the general population, in conjunction with the observed increase in negative symptoms and functional impairment, should alert clinicians to the necessity for the identification and treatment of HR subjects, irrespective of the degree to which these features are associated with transition risk.

The impact of subjective well-being under neuroleptic treatment on compliance and remission.

The patients' perspective of antipsychotic treatment was largely neglected for a long period. It has only been during the last 10 years, with the development of atypical antipsychotics, that scientific interest in this issue has markedly increased. Numerous studies have shown that the majority of schizophrenic patients are able to fill out a self-rating scale in a meaningful way, and several self-report scales with sufficient internal consistency and good construct validity have been developed. The effects of antipsychotic treatment on psychopathology and on subjective well-being (SW) are not strongly related; the perspectives of the patient and his/her psychiatrist markedly differ. Recent research indicates that SW/quality of life, much more improved by atypical than by typical antipsychotics, has a strong impact on compliance, as well as on the chance of achieving remission. The data strongly suggest that a systematic evaluation of the patient's perspective of antipsychotic treatment is meaningful and necessary to increase compliance, functional outcome, and long-term prognosis.

Predictors for symptom re-exacerbation after targeted stepwise drug discontinuation in first-episode schizophrenia: Results of the first-episode study within the German research network on schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: After a first episode in schizophrenia guidelines recommend antipsychotic maintenance treatment (MT) for at least 1year. Recent RCTs on subsequent targeted intermittent treatment (IT) after stepwise drug discontinuation yielded noticeably higher relapse rates than during MT also in first-episode patients. Nevertheless, about 50% of patients remain stable under IT. Given the potential adverse effects of antipsychotics and the preference of many patients to discontinue drugs, valid predictors for the feasibility of IT are urgently needed to support decision making. METHODS: Based on a one-year RCT phase comparing MT with IT in first-episode patients after 1year of MT, conducted within the German Research Network on Schizophrenia (GRNS), predictors for deterioration under IT in 19 feasible patients were identified by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Deterioration occurred in 10 patients (52.6%). Univariate analyses indicated a lower PANSS positive score after acute treatment as well as after one year of MT as significant predictors; in multivariate logistic regression, in addition to the lower PANSS positive score after acute treatment, reaching enduring remission and having had a deterioration both during MT evolved as significant predictors and indicate a higher risk for deterioration. CONCLUSIONS: Although limited by the small sample size, our findings suggest that patients who show a favorable response and full and enduring symptom remission during antipsychotic treatment, as well as those with marked deterioration despite MT should rather be recommended to remain on treatment because they are at higher risk for symptom re-exacerbation after (stepwise) drug discontinuation.

Detection of visual events along the apparent motion trace in patients with paranoid schizophrenia.

Dysfunctional prediction in sensory processing has been suggested as a possible causal mechanism in the development of delusions in patients with schizophrenia. Previous studies in healthy subjects have shown that while the perception of apparent motion can mask visual events along the illusory motion trace, such motion masking is reduced when events are spatio-temporally compatible with the illusion, and, therefore, predictable. Here we tested the hypothesis that this specific detection advantage for predictable target stimuli on the apparent motion trace is reduced in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Our data show that, although target detection along the illusory motion trace is generally impaired, both patients and healthy control participants detect predictable targets more often than unpredictable targets. Patients had a stronger motion masking effect when compared to controls. However, patients showed the same advantage in the detection of predictable targets as healthy control subjects. Our findings reveal stronger motion masking but intact prediction of visual events along the apparent motion trace in patients with paranoid schizophrenia and suggest that the sensory prediction mechanism underlying apparent motion is not impaired in paranoid schizophrenia.

Sense of agency is altered in patients with a putative psychotic prodrome.

BACKGROUND: Sense of agency (SoAg)--the experience of controlling one's own actions and their consequences--has been studied in schizophrenia but not in the earlier stages of the disease, i.e. in patients with a putative psychotic prodrome (PP). Previous research has shown that time judgments of voluntary actions can provide an implicit measure of the SoAg. METHOD: 30 PP patients and 30 healthy controls performed voluntary key presses while watching a rotating clock hand on a monitor. After each key press they had to estimate the time of the action (based on the perceived position of the clock hand at the time of the key press). By varying the probability with which the simple manual action was followed by a tone, we investigated whether shifts in perceptual estimates of the operant action towards a resulting effect depended on the actual occurrence of the effect (retrospective process) or on the prediction that the effect will occur. RESULTS: PP patients differed from healthy controls but their results did not resemble previous findings in schizophrenia patients. PP patients showed numerically--but not significantly--stronger temporal linkage between action and consequence than healthy controls. Retrospective and predictive influences on action binding were stronger in PP patients. Furthermore, the altered influence of prediction was significantly correlated to ego-psychopathology. DISCUSSION: Distortions of agency constitute a core feature of the disease that is already present in the PP but may evolve further with progression of the illness. Distortions of agency may thus represent a promising additional predictive risk factor for transition to psychosis in PP patients.

Rationale and baseline characteristics of PREVENT: a second-generation intervention trial in subjects at-risk (prodromal) of developing first-episode psychosis evaluating cognitive behavior therapy, aripiprazole, and placebo for the prevention of psychosis.

Antipsychotics, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and omega-3-fatty acids have been found superior to control conditions as regards prevention of psychosis in people at-risk of first-episode psychosis. However, no large-scale trial evaluating the differential efficacy of CBT and antipsychotics has been performed yet. In PREVENT, we evaluate CBT, aripiprazole, and clinical management (CM) as well as placebo and CM for the prevention of psychosis in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with regard to the antipsychotic intervention and a randomized controlled trial with regard to the CBT intervention with blinded ratings. The hypotheses are first that CBT and aripiprazole and CM are superior to placebo and CM and second that CBT is not inferior to aripiprazole and CM combined. The primary outcome is transition to psychosis. By November 2010, 156 patients were recruited into the trial. The subjects were substantially functionally compromised (Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale mean score 52.5) and 78.3% presented with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition axis I comorbid diagnosis. Prior to randomization, 51.5% of the participants preferred to be randomized into the CBT arm, whereas only 12.9% preferred pharmacological treatment. First, assessments of audiotaped treatment sessions confirmed the application of CBT-specific skills in the CBT condition and the absence of those in CM. The overall quality rating of the CBT techniques applied in the CBT condition was good. When the final results of the trial are available, PREVENT will substantially expand the current limited evidence base for best clinical practice in people at-risk (prodromal) of first-episode psychosis.

Emergencies related to cocaine use: a European multicentre study of expert interviews.

Illicit drug use can lead to acute reverse reactions leading to the admission to emergency departments. Cocaine-related emergencies have been monitored in the USA, but not in Europe so far. The study investigates patterns of cocaine emergencies in eight European cities in a multicentre cross-sectional study conducted in Barcelona, Budapest, Dublin, Hamburg, London, Rome, Vienna and Zurich. The reported frequency differs from city to city, with some emergency centres having less than one case per half year, and some centres having more than one case per month. Patterns of complaints among cocaine users are associated with the psychomotor-stimulant or cardiovascular effects of cocaine. Urine screens and referrals to the addiction services are infrequent. A closer link between the emergency departments and addiction services would help in guiding problematic drug users towards appropriate treatment at an earlier stage in the addiction process.