[Potentiation of the effects of anxiolytics with magnesium salts]. / Potencování úcinku anxiolytik horecnatými solemi.

In a double blind trial the authors tested the assumption that magnesium potentiates by its specific action the therapeutic effect of anxiolytics. A group of 20 women treated on account of anxious depressive neurosis was divided into two sub-groups. The first was given anxiolytic and placebo, the second one anxiolytics and Mg-lactate in corresponding amounts. After 10 days the placebo and Mg-lactate were exchanged. Both groups were examined before treatment and then after 10 and 20 days of therapy by a series of psychological tests. It was revealed that the combination of anxiolytics and Mg-lactate leads to a more rapid reduction of psychopathological symptoms, in particular anxiety. In MAS and MHG tests the decline of anxiety was statistically significant at the level of p less than 0.05.

[The significance of aluminum in psychiatry]. / Význam hliníku v psychiatrii.

The author summarizes data from the literature on teh biological importance of aluminium, in particular its relation to the development of degenerative cerebral processes. The author discusses possibilities of the use of the protective action of zinc and magnesium in the development of dementia.

[Evoked potentials and the prediction of the efficacy of psychopharmaceutical agents]. / Vyzvannye potentsialy i prediktsiia éffektivnosti psikhofarmatsevticheskikh sredstv.

The authors have studied early brain stem auditory evoked potentials (EPs) registered after a single intramuscular administration of 2.5 mg of haloperidol in 32 healthy volunteers and 14 schizophrenic patients. Haloperidol led to a significant decrease in the latency of wave V of brain stem auditory EPs in patients with schizophrenia and to its increase in normal subjects. A diminution in wave V of brain stem auditory EPs directly correlated with a reduction of psychopathology expressed in points of the Overall-Gorham scale (BPRS) and observed after one-month haloperidol treatment. The authors discuss the possibility of using changes in brain stem auditory EPs after a single administration of various psychotropics to select an optimal drug for a given patient and also as a possible supplementary diagnostic criterion.