Effectiveness of the “Trisquel” board game intervention program for patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders present emotional, cognitive and/or behavioural alterations relat- ed to daily functioning. Therefore, it is necessary to develop intervention programs focused on the improvement of these constructs. The aim of this work is to analyse the effect of the intervention program “Trisquel” on cognitive functioning, symptomatologic perception and psychosocial functioning.

Efectividad del programa de intervención «El Trisquel» en personas con trastornos del espectro de la esquizofrenia / Effectiveness of the «Trisquel» board game intervention program for patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders

INTRODUCCIÓN: Los trastornos del espectro de la esquizofrenia presentan alteraciones emocionales, cognitivas o conductuales relacionadas con el funcionamiento diario. Por ello, es necesario desarrollar programas de intervención enfocados a la mejora de estos constructos. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el efecto en el funcionamiento cognitivo, la percepción sintomatológica y el funcionamiento psicosocial del programa de intervención «El Trisquel». METODOLOGÍA: Se llevó a cabo un diseño experimental con un total de 24 personas con diagnóstico de trastorno del espectro de la esquizofrenia que fueron asignadas aleatoriamente al grupo experimental «El Trisquel» y al grupo control. El grupo «El Trisquel» realizó dos sesiones estructuradas semanales durante tres meses, mientras que el grupo control realizó sesiones de estimulación cognitiva con la misma frecuencia e intensidad. Se administraron pruebas neuropsicológicas, clínicas y funcionales antes y después de la intervención. RESULTADOS: Tras el programa de intervención, en el grupo «El Trisquel» se encontraron mejorías estadísticamente significativas en los subtests de letras y números (p = 0,029), en el índice de memoria de trabajo (p = 0,020) WAIS-III, en sensibilidad interpersonal (p = 0,015) e ideación paranoide (p = 0,049) SCL-90-R y en funcionamiento psicosocial EEAG (p = 0,020). Y en el grupo control, en velocidad de procesa-miento (p = 0,034) WAIS-III y percepción de la salud SF-36 (p = 0,017). CONCLUSIONES: Los resultados de este estudio sugieren que «El Trisquel» puede ser un programa de intervención eficaz para inducir mejoras en el funcionamiento de la memoria operativa, en las dimensiones sintomatológicas de sensibilidad interpersonal e ideación paranoide y en el funcionamiento psicosocial en personas con diagnóstico de trastorno del espectro de la esquizofrenia

INTRODUCTION: The disorders of the schizophrenia spectrum present emotional, cognitive and/or behavioural alterations, related to daily functioning, therefore it is necessary to develop intervention programmes focused on the improvement of these constructs. The objective of this work is to analyze the effect on cognitive functioning, symptomatological perception and psychosocial functioning of the Trisquel intervention program. METHODOLOGY: An experimental design was carried out with a total of 24 people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder who were randomly assigned to the experimental group Trisquel and the control group. The Trisquel group con-ducted two structured weekly sessions for three months, while the control group conducted cognitive stimulation sessions with the same frequency and intensity. Neuropsychological, clinical and functional tests were administered before and after the intervention. RESULTS: After the intervention program in the Trisquel group, statistically significant improvements were found in the subtest of letters and numbers (p = 0,029), in the working memory index (p = 0,020) WAIS-III, in interpersonal sensitivity (p = 0,015) and paranoid ideation (p = 0,049) SCL-90-R and in psychosocial functioning EEAG (p = 0,020). And in the control group, in processing speed (p = 0,034) WAIS-III and health perception SF-36 (p = 0,017). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that «Trisquel» may be an effective intervention program to induce improvements in the functioning of working memory, in the symptomatic dimensions of interpersonal sensitivity and paranoid ideation, and in psychosocial functioning in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder

GH responses to GHRH and GHRP-6 in Streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats.

GH responses to GHRH, the physiologic hypothalamic stimulus, and GHRP-6, a synthetic hexapeptide that binds the Ghrelin receptor, were studied in rats treated with streptozotocin (STZ), an experimental model of diabetes. Sprague-Dawley male rats received a single injection either of STZ (70 mg/Kg in 0.01 M SSC, i.p.) or of the vehicle (0.01 M SSC). GH responses were challenged with two different doses of GHRH (1 and 10 microg/kg) or GHRP-6 (3 and 30 microg/kg) and with a combination of both at low (1 + 3 microg/kg) or high (10 + 30 microg/kg) doses, respectively. We observed a dose-dependent effect for GH responses to GHRH both in STZ-treated rats and in controls. However, we could not find significant differences between STZ-rats and controls. GH responses to GHRP-6 occurred in a dose-dependent manner in STZ-rats, but not in controls. GH responses to GHRP-6 in both groups were clearly lower than those elicited by GHRH. GH responses to 30 microg/Kg of GHRP-6 were significantly greater in STZ-rats than in controls (AUC: 3549.9 +/- 1001.4 vs. 2046.4 +/- 711.7; p<0.05). The combined administration of GHRH plus GHRP-6 was the most potent stimuli for GH in both groups. The administration of doses in the lower range (1 + 3 microg/Kg, GHRH + GHRP-6 respectively) induced a great peak of GH in STZ-rats and in control rats, revealing a synergistic effect of GHRH and GHRP-6 in both groups. When the higher doses were administered (10 + 30 microg/kg), GH levels in time 5, and AUC were significantly higher in control rats. In addition, a negative correlation between WT (weight tendency) values and GH responses, represented as AUC, could be established in STZ-rats (r2=-0.566, p=0.004 for GHRH; r2=-0.412, p=0.028 for GHRP-6). Thus, the more negative the values of WT were, the more severe the metabolic alteration and, therefore, the higher the GH response to GHRH and GHRHP-6. In conclusion, our results do not support the existence of a functional hypothalamic hypertone of SS in diabetic rats, as GH responses were not usually reduced in STZ-rats, except when both secretagogues were administered together at the higher doses. Besides, GH responses to GHRH and GHRP-6 were inversely correlated with the severity of the metabolic alteration in STZ-rats, meaning that worse glycaemic control promoted higher GH secretion. These results resemble those found in humans, where GH responses to secretagogues are increased in type-1 diabetes and depend on hyperglycaemia, and are representative of not well-controlled insulin-dependent diabetic status.