Varenicline prevents affective and cognitive exacerbation during smoking abstinence in male patients with schizophrenia.

To explore the effects of varenicline on the psychopathology and cognition of chronic inpatients with schizophrenia, we conducted a non-randomized control group time series investigation between March 2009 and April 2010. In a mandatory smoking cessation intervention, 41 male inpatient smokers were scheduled to undergo either a 5-week varenicline treatment (varenicline group) or the use of no drugs (non-treatment group). Depression (HAM-D), anxiety (HAM-A), and psychosis (PANSS) were evaluated at baseline, and at the 2nd, 4th, 8th and 12th week after abstinence; four neuropsychological tests, including Digit Span Forward and Backward (DSF and DSB), and Trail Making Test-A and -B, were evaluated at baseline and at the 4th, 8th and 12th week. .Thirty patients completed the study. Among 15 patients in the non-treatment group, the HAM-D, HAM-A, DSF, and DSB scores were exacerbated during the 2-8 weeks of abstinence, but there were no changes in psychotic symptoms and the other two neuropsychological tests. Compared with the non-treatment group, varenicline users experienced less impairment in HAM-D and HAM-A scores at the 2nd and 4th weeks, and in DSF tasks at the 4th week after abstinence. In conclusions, varenicline can attenuate abstinence-induced adverse outcomes and appears to be well-tolerated in smokers with schizophrenia.

Association study of a functional catechol-O-methyltransferase polymorphism and executive function in elderly males without dementia.

Cognitive function in older people is a major factor influencing quality of life. The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, which is essential in the metabolic degradation of prefrontal dopamine, has been considered as a leading candidate gene in the variation in cognitive performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a functional COMT (Val158Met) polymorphism on several cognition domains in a relatively homogeneous population consisting of elderly Chinese males without dementia. Six neuropsychological measurements, including Spatial Span Forward and Backward, Digit Span Forward and Backward, and Trail Making Test-A and -B, were assessed in 161 aged males. It was found that the Met/Met carriers showed a better performance than the Val/Met and Val/Val subjects on the Digit Span Forward (a measure of general attention; p=0.017, after correction for education level) test, but not on the other cognitive tests. These findings suggest that the COMT Val158Met genotype may contribute to differences in normal cognitive aging, particularly in the area of general attention.