'It Helped Me to Disconnect My Mind from the Problems': The Subjective Experiences of People with Schizophrenia Taking Part in a Concurrent Exercise Program.

The aim of this study was to investigate the subjective experiences of a concurrent exercise program designed to improve both physical and mental health, through participation, for people with schizophrenia. Participants diagnosed with schizophrenia (n = 35, 41.6 ± 10.3 years) received an intensive concurrent exercise program for a 5-month duration, three times a week, at out-of-hospital facilities. Qualitative data was collected via individual, semi-structured interviews, organized, and analyzed with thematic analysis. The findings highlight the participants' perspective in supporting an out-of-hospital exercise program as an acceptable and beneficial adjunct to usual treatment in people with schizophrenia for holistic health improvements.

Development and Evaluation of Curcumin Encapsulated Self-assembled Nanoparticles as Potential Remedial Treatment for PCOS in a Female Rat Model.

PURPOSE: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrinopathies affecting women of reproductive age and leads to metabolic disorders and infertility. The present study was conducted to investigate the therapeutic effects of curcumin (Cur) encapsulated arginine (Arg) and N-acetyl histidine (NAcHis) modified chitosan (Arg-CS-NAcHis/Cur) nanoparticles (NPs). METHODS: In this study, amphiphilic chitosan (CS) conjugate was developed by modification with hydrophilic arginine (Arg) and hydrophobic N-acetyl histidine (NAcHis) group (Arg-CS-NAcHis). The synthesized conjugate was well characterized by FTIR and NMR studies. Self-assembled nanoparticles based on the synthesized conjugate were developed by simple sonication method and characterized for the physicochemical properties of zeta potential, particle size and drug encapsulation. Next, in vitro drug release, cytotoxicity, and cellular uptake studies of the NPs were evaluated. Finally, the developed nanoparticles were examined for their therapeutic potential against estradiol valerate (EV) induced PCOS rats by evaluating hormone level changes and ovarian morphology. RESULTS: The results showed that zeta potential of the nanoparticles was 39.8±2.52 mV and the average size was 200 nm. The in vitro drug release profile showed sustained release pattern. Cytotoxicity and cellular uptake studies also showed preferential effectiveness than free curcumin. Both the biochemical and histopathological studies showed positive effects in reverting the symptoms of PCOS rats to normalcy. CONCLUSION: Curcumin encapsulated arginine and N-acetyl histidine modified chitosan (Arg-CS-NAcHis/Cur) nanoparticles have been successfully developed. The present study suggested that treatment of the nanoparticles might reverse many of the PCOS symptoms. Therefore, these nanoparticles might be used as promising new candidate for delivery of curcumin to treat PCOS.

Vitamin D status of psychiatric inpatients at a community teaching hospital in the Midwest.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is a re-emerging epidemic in North America. It is increasingly linked to the pathology of cognition and mental illness and is also common in psychiatric patients. AIMS: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among psychiatric inpatients in Kansas City, to explore the association between vitamin D status and clinical characteristics, and to identify the association of medical problems related to vitamin D deficiency in mental illness. METHODS: In this descriptive study we recruited 52 psychiatric inpatients at a community teaching hospital in Kansas City between August and November 2013. A vitamin D-deficient state was defined as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-(OH) D) level ≤ 20 ng/mL. In addition to descriptive statistics, the Student t-test and Pearson test were used in the study. RESULTS: A total of 15 patients (28.8%) were classified as deficient, 20 patients (38.5%) had an insufficiency, 17 patients (32.7%) were categorized as sufficient. Interestingly, there was a statistically significant difference in 25-(OH) D levels between African Americans and Caucasians (t = -2.216, p = 0.03) but no significant relationship between 25-(OH) D level and gender, major psychiatric diagnoses, type 2 diabetes mellitus or obesity. There was also no correlation between 25-(OH) D level and age, body mass index or haemoglobin A1C. CONCLUSIONS: Low 25-(OH) D level was found in a high percentage of psychiatric inpatients in Kansas City. Screening for vitamin D deficiency could be a routine work-up for psychiatric inpatients. Vitamin D supplement for African American inpatients with low vitamin D levels could be considered.

The metabolism of histamine in rat hypothalamus and cortex after reserpine treatment.

The effect of reserpine on histamine (HA) and tele-methylhistamine (N(τ)-MHA) in hypothalamus and cortex of rats was analyzed and compared to catecholamines. IP injection of reserpine (5 mg/kg) confirmed the effectiveness of reserpine treatment on noradrenaline and dopamine levels. Our in-vitro experiment with synaptosomal/crude mitochondrial fraction from hypothalamus and cortex confirmed that while mono amine oxidase (MAO) is an efficient metabolic enzyme for catecholamines, HA is not significantly affected by its enzymatic action. HMT activity after reserpine, pargyline and L-histidine treatment showed no differences compared to the control values. However HDC was significantly increased in both hypothalamus and cortex. In this study, Ws/Ws rats with deficiency of mast cells were used to clarify aspects of HA metabolism in HAergic neurons by eliminating the contribution of mast cells. The irreversible MAO-B inhibitor Pargyline (65 mg/kg) failed to accumulate N(τ)-MHA in the hypothalamus. However, when animals treated with reserpine and pargyline/reserpine were compared, the last group showed higher N(τ)-MHA values (p < 0.01). Moreover, the precursor of HA, L-histidine (1 g/kg), produced an increase of HA in the hypothalamus to 166% and the cortex to 348%. In conclusion, our results suggest that the effect of reserpine on the HA pools in the brain might be different. The neuronal HA pools are more resistant to reserpine as compared to those of catecholamine. Moreover, the HAergic pool appears to be more resistant to depletion than mast cells' pool, and thus HDC/HMT activity and its localization may play a key role in the understanding of HA metabolism in brain after reserpine treatment.

Variations in magnesium and zinc in hypertensive patients receiving different treatments.

We studied the influence of captopril, atenolol, and verapamil on serum and intraerythrocyte concentrations of magnesium and zinc in 30 normotensive control subjects (12 men and 18 women, aged 30 to 65 years, mean +/- SD 45.76 +/- 12.15 years) and 30 patients with untreated mild or moderate essential hypertension (14 men and 16 women, aged 30 to 65 years, mean +/- SD 49.50 +/- 13.58 years). Ten each of the hypertensive patients were treated with captopril, atenolol, or verapamil. Physical examination and biochemical analyses (serum Mg and Zn) were done in all participants at baseline, and in patients after 3 and 6 months of treatment. The results were compared according to a nested design with Neumann-Keuls test. We found no significant differences between controls and patients in serum and intraerythrocyte concentrations of Zn at the start of the study, although there was a significant decrease in serum Zn in patients after 3 (P < .01) and 6 months (P < .001) of treatment, regardless of the drug used. This decrease was thought to be attributable to the zincuric effect of captopril or to dietary measures, or both. Intraerythrocyte Zn was not significantly affected by antihypertensive treatment. Serum and intraerythrocyte concentrations of Mg were significantly lower (P < .001) in hypertensive than in normotensive subjects, and serum Mg in patients treated with verapamil was significantly lower (P < .05) than after treatment with captopril or atenolol. Serum Mg concentration was related directly with serum concentrations of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.4043, P < .05). We conclude that supplementation with Mg may benefit patients with hypertension.

Metabolic and antihypertensive effects of nifedipine in hypertensive patients.

We studied the effects of nifedipine on blood pressure and on clinical and analytical parameters in hypertensive patients. Seven male and eight female subjects (mean age of 46.27 +/- 5.38 years, range of 41-56 years) with essential arterial hypertension were given nifedipine (20 mg b.i.d.) for 3 months. Before and after treatment, history, blood pressure, and biochemical values were recorded [blood: Na, K, Ca, creatinine, uric acid, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, antidiuretic hormone (ADH), and aldosterone; urine: Na, K, Ca, creatinine, ADH, aldosterone, and percentage fraction of Na, K, and Ca excreted]. After 3 months of treatment, we found (a) significant decreases in systolic (147 +/- 18 vs. 166 +/- 16 mm Hg, p less than 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (90 +/- 8 vs. 107 +/- 8 mm Hg, p less than 0.0007), triglycerides (107 +/- 47 vs. 120 +/- 49 mg/dl, p less than 0.0007), and cholesterol (236 +/- 4 vs. 257 +/- 44 mg/dl, p less than 0.00075) in blood, and in K excretion (50 +/- 19 vs. 46 +/- 19 mEq/g of creatinine, p less than 0.0007) and excreted fraction of K (49 +/- 6% vs. 8 +/- 5%, p less than 0.0012) in urine; (b) significant increases in HDL cholesterol (65 +/- 13 vs. 58 +/- 13 mg/dl, p less than 0.001) in blood, and in Na (115 +/- 73 vs. 109 +/- 69 mEq/g of creatinine, p less than 0.0007) in urine; and (c) no significant change in the remaining biochemical parameters, or in heart rate. Secondary effects included flushing (34%), headache (20%), ankle swelling (17%), dizziness (13%), palpitations (4%), and pruritus (4%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)