Lexical indicators of anxiety in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Anxiety is a dominant emotion in schizophrenia. It is most often diagnosed by questionnaire-based methods. In this study, it was decided to analyse the utterances of patients with schizophrenia for the occurrence of lexical indicators of anxiety, which are a good predictor of experienced anxiety and lie beyond the subject's control. DESIGN: The indicators most frequently described in the literature and considered to be of the most significant diagnostic value were selected: first-person pronouns and verbs; causal expressions and conjunctions; affirmative and negative particles; and dogmatic expressions. It was assumed that more of these would appear in the utterances of people with schizophrenia than in the utterances of healthy subjects. METHODS: The study was conducted on 130 patients with paranoid schizophrenia and 130 healthy subjects. They were asked to describe five pictures. RESULTS: In all verbal indicators of anxiety (except for negative particles) patients with positive schizophrenia attained the highest values, differing significantly from the results for the control groups. CONCLUSION: This result is consistent with the subject literature, which emphasizes the high level of anxiety in schizophrenia, especially in its first phase, when the generative symptoms of the illness predominate.

Serum s100b protein levels as a neuroinflammatory biomarker of acutely relapsed paranoid schizophrenia patients.

OBJECTIVE: The s100b inflammatory protein is involved in schizophrenia pathophysiology. We aim at studying the evolution of the s100b serum levels in acutely relapsed paranoid schizophrenia patients at three different time points (admission, discharge and 3 months after hospital discharge 3MAHD). METHODS: Twenty-three paranoid schizophrenia inpatients meeting DSM-IV criteria participated in the research. Twenty-three healthy subjects matched by age, gender and season acted as the control group. Psychopathology was measured with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Serum s100b levels were determined at 12:00 and 24:00 h with an enzyme-linked immunoassay kit. RESULTS: Patients had significant higher serum s100b levels at admission and discharge (12:00 h) than the group of healthy subjects. At admission and discharge, s100b serum levels at 24 h had decreased compared to the 24:00 h s100b levels of the healthy subjects. At 3MAHD patients and healthy subjects had similar levels of serum s100b protein. Positive and negative PANSS scores decreased significantly between admission and discharge. Positive and negative PANSS scores decreased between discharge and 3MAHD, but these changes had no statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that the acute inflammatory response produced in acutely relapsed patients is reversed after 3 month of hospital discharge. The variations of serum s100b concentrations when the patients suffer from an acute relapse may be a useful predictor of disease evolution.

[Efficiency of the attention networks and severity of positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia]. / Effektivnost' setei vnimaniya i vyrazhennost' pozitivnoi i negativnoi simptomatiki pri shizofrenii.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the characteristics of the event related potentials during the attention network test in patients with schizophrenia depending on the severity of positive and negative symptoms. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 20 patients with schizophrenia, 10 of them with a predominance of positive symptoms and 10 patients with a predominance of negative symptoms. All patients were diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (F20.0). Attention function was assessed using the attention network test with parallel recording of evoked responses. Differences in the amplitude and latency of N100 potential when presented with different types of cues, as well as P300 potential when identifying a congruent and incongruent flanker were analyzed. RESULTS: A comparative analysis of N100 potential for neutral cues and flankers showed significantly lower amplitude and longer latency in the group of patients with a predominance of negative symptoms (Cz channel).The amplitude of the evoked N100 response upon presentation of central and spatial cues was significantly higher in the group of patients with a predominance of positive symptoms. An analysis of P300 potential in Fz channel with congruent and incongruent flankers revealed no differences in the amplitude of both stimuli in the group of patients with a predominance of negative symptoms, while the amplitude of the evoked response to congruent and incongruent flankers was significantly higher in the group with a predominance of positive symptoms. In the group of patients with a predominance of positive symptoms, an inverse flanker response was established - P300 amplitude was significantly higher upon presentation of an incongruent flanker. CONCLUSION: The specific characteristics of evoked responses describing the features of such systems of attention as vigilance, orientation and conflict resolution have been established.

[Primary diagnosis of schizophrenia in the framework of inpatient forensic psychiatric examination]. / Pervichnaya diagnostika shizofrenii v ramkakh statsionarnoi sudebno-psikhiatricheskoi ekspertizy.

OBJECTIVE: To study the primary diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders within the framework of an inpatient forensic psychiatric examination. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 52 accused, who underwent inpatient forensic psychiatric examination at Alexeev Mental Clinic No. 1 in the period 2018-2020, was carried out. Patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 included 39 patients newly diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and group 2 consisted of 13patients diagnosed with schizotypal disorder. Diagnosis was based on the ICD-10 criteria (F20 and F21). Clinical and psychopathological method was used as the main research tool. RESULTS: The study group is represented mainly by young people (88.4%, n=46) with secondary (78.8%, n=41), less often higher (21.25, n=11) education, with a decrease in social adaptation and signs of «social drift¼ (90.3%, n=47). Difficulties in diagnosis at the initial stages of an endogenous disease are due to the presence of neurotic disorders that do not affect the nature of social functioning. In group 2, there was a slow increase in personality changes. The commission of unlawful actions by productive-psychopathological mechanisms was observed in 73% of cases (n=38). CONCLUSION: The primary diagnosis of endogenous mental disorders in a forensic situation, carried out during an inpatient forensic psychiatric examination, determines the correctness of the assessment of the level of danger and the choice of compulsory medical measures.

[An effect of cholinesterase blockade on negative symptoms in schizophrenia]. / Vliyanie blokady kholinesterazy na negativnye rasstroistva pri shizofrenii.

Abstruct. OBJECTIVE: To assess the possibilities of influencing the severity of negative disorders in schizophrenic patients with cholinesterase blockade. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included stable 26 patients (13 of them women), average age 40.4 (SD 11.7) with paranoid schizophrenia, episodic form according to ICD-10). All patients received antipsychotic therapy, which was not changed at least for 2 months. We used psychometric scales (Positive and Negative Syndrome Assessment Scale (PANSS), Global Functioning Scale (GAF), neurocognitive techniques (Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia-BACS), projective psychological techniques (Rorschach test). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that augmentation of maintenance antipsychotic therapy with a cholinesterase blocker (ipidacrine at a dose of 20 mg per day) had positive impact on negative symptoms, decreasing the severity of emotional deficiency. The positive changes of cognitive impairment, measured with BACS, occurred regardless of changes in the severity of negative disorders, measured with PANSS. The Rorschach test showed an improvement in the conventional orientation of the patients' thinking. No exacerbation of psychotic symptoms was registered.

[Depression in the structure of schizophrenia: clinical and biochemical characteristics]. / Depressiya v strukture shizofrenii: kliniko-biokhimicheskaya kharakteristika.

THE AIM OF THE STUDY: Was to investigate clinical and biochemical correlates of depression in the structure of schizophrenia to improve its diagnosis and differential diagnosis and to deepen understanding of mechanisms of schizophrenia development. Material and Methods. Forty-two inpatients at the stabilization stage of paranoid schizophrenia, aged 29.5±5.9 years, of whom 64.3% were women, were examined. The duration of the disease was 5.6±6.3 years. We used clinical and psychopathological methods, clinical scales (PANSS, SANS, BACS, Calgary Scale), catamnestic and clinic-laboratory methods (determination of brain-derived neurotrophic factor BDNF, proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6, C-reactive protein). Results. At the stabilization stage, depression in patients with paranoid schizophrenia occurred in 19% of cases, more frequently in women. Female patients were more severely depressed, which was associated with an increased concentration of C-reactive protein, while negative symptoms predominated in male patients as compared to females. The presence of depression correlates with a lower severity of psychopathological, primarily positive symptoms and with a greater severity of neurocognitive deficit in schizophrenic patients. BDNF level directly correlates with the severity of positive and negative symptoms, and the level of interleukin 6 at the stage of remission formation does not differ from that in healthy individuals. C-reactive protein levels are associated with the characteristics of the course of schizophrenia.

The prevalence, incidence, and admission rate of diagnosed schizophrenia spectrum disorders in Korea, 2008-2017: A nationwide population-based study using claims big data analysis.

This study estimated the prevalence and incidence rate of schizophrenia, schizotypal, and delusional disorders (SSDD) in Korea from 2008 to 2017 and analyzed the hospital admission rate, re-admission rate, and hospitalization period. It used the Korean nationwide National Health Insurance Service claims database. SSDD patients who had at least one visit to Korea's primary, secondary, or tertiary referral hospitals with a diagnosis of SSDD, according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), were identified as SSDD cases if coded as F20-F29. Data were analyzed using frequency statistics. Results showed that the 12-month prevalence rate of SSDD increased steadily from 0.40% in 2008 to 0.45% in 2017. Analysis of the three-year cumulative prevalence rate of SSDD showed an increase from 0.51% in 2011 to 0.54% in 2017. In 2017, the five-year cumulative prevalence rate was 0.61%, and the 10-year cumulative prevalence rate was 0.75%. The hospital admission rate among SSDD patients decreased from 2008 (30.04%) to 2017 (28.53%). The incidence of SSDD was 0.05% and no yearly change was observed. The proportion of SSDD inpatients whose first hospital visit resulted in immediate hospitalization was 22.4% in 2017. Epidemiological indicators such as prevalence, incidence, and hospitalization rate play an important role in planning social and financial resource allocation. Therefore, efforts to produce more accurate epidemiological indicators are very important and this study's findings could have a significant social impact.

[The impact of territorial care in the treatment of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and delusional disorders in a Rio de Janeiro community]. / El impacto del cuidado territorial en el tratamiento de personas diagnosticadas con esquizofrenia y trastornos delirantes en una comunidad en Río de Janeiro.

Care for people diagnosed with schizophrenia and delusional disorders involves many challenges, especially in territorial contexts of pronounced social vulnerability. In Rio de Janeiro, the two decades after the passing of Federal Law 10,216 on Psychiatric Reform in 2001 have been characterized by the transition from a hospital-centered model to one based on community services. Taking the case of a community in Rio de Janeiro, data was extracted from the medical records of 94 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizotypal disorders, and delusional disorders (ICD-10 codes F20 to F29) in five public health services. Covering the period from 2003 to 2016, indicators of the quality of treatment provided were analyzed. As a result of this transition, psychiatric hospitals have all but emptied and a low number of currently untreated patients can be observed. In addition, crisis care and long-term hospitalizations have been replaced by territorial care, and clinical comorbidities are monitored and treated at Family Health Units.

El cuidado de personas diagnosticadas con trastornos esquizofrénicos y delirantes representa un desafío, especialmente, en territorios de gran vulnerabilidad social. En Río de Janeiro, con la promulgación de la Ley Federal 10216 de 2001 sobre la Reforma Psiquiátrica, las últimas dos décadas se han caracterizado por la transición del modelo centrado en el hospital al modelo basado en los servicios comunitarios. Utilizando el caso de una comunidad de Río de Janeiro, se seleccionaron cinco servicios de salud pública y se extrajeron datos de los registros médicos de 94 pacientes con diagnósticos de esquizofrenia, trastornos esquizotípicos y trastornos delirantes (codificados en la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades 10 edición entre los códigos F20 a F29) y se analizaron indicadores de calidad del tratamiento ofrecido en el período 2003-2016. Como resultado de la transición se observa que los hospitales psiquiátricos quedaron casi vacíos con un bajo número de pacientes actualmente desatendidos. Además, la atención a la crisis y las hospitalizaciones a largo plazo se reemplazaron por la atención territorial y las comorbilidades clínicas se monitorean y se tratan en unidades de salud familiar.

[The complex assessment of state and treatment results of patients with paranoid schizophrenia]. / Kompleksnaya otsenka sostoyaniya i rezul'tatov lecheniya patsientov s paranoidnoi shizofreniei.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a scale of complex assessment of treatment outcomes based on the indicators of the traditionally used scales. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 420 patients with paranoid schizophrenia were examined. During the study, an analysis of patients' outpatient and inpatient cards and psychodiagnostic scales for quantitative assessment of clinical, cognitive and social aspects patients' life was carried out. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The developed scale of treatment result complex assessment provides a personalized approach to the management of patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Such complex assessment of the patients' mental state helps to optimize the analysis of the effects of various therapies, to simplify diagnostic tactics and to personalize the treatment algorithm.

Neuro-Immune Aspects of Schizophrenia with Severe Negative Symptoms: New Diagnostic Markers of Disease Phenotype.

The aim of the study was to analyze the immune-inflammatory profile of patients with paranoid schizophrenia and relate it to the severity of negative symptoms and the MRI data in order to identify biomarkers of schizophrenia severity, search for new approaches to therapy, and control its effectiveness. Materials and Methods: The main group included 51 patients with paranoid schizophrenia, the control group - 30 healthy subjects. Patients underwent MRI scans and immunological studies, which included an assessment of natural and adaptive immunity, the systemic level of key pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and other markers of inflammation. Results: Disorders of immunity and immunoinflammatory profile in patients with paranoid schizophrenia with severe negative symptoms were revealed for the first time: in the presence of severe negative symptoms (>15 points according to the NSA-4 scale), the levels of humoral immunity factors, cytokines IL-10 and IL-12p40 and neurotrophin NGF were increased as well as the markers of systemic inflammation. Morphometric changes in the brain, typical for patients with schizophrenia, and also specific for patients with severe negative symptoms, were determined. The data analysis revealed correlations between the immune changes with structural changes in some of the brain areas, including the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Associations were found between the levels of anti-inflammatory IL-10, IL-12p40 cytokines and morphometric parameters of the brain, specific only for schizophrenic patients with severe negative symptoms. Conclusion: The interdisciplinary approach, combining brain morphometry with in-depth immunological and clinical studies, made it possible to determine neurobiological, immune, and neurocognitive markers of paranoid schizophrenia with severe negative symptoms. The results are important for further deciphering the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and its subtypes, as well as for the search for new approaches to the treatment of severe forms of the disease.

El impacto del cuidado territorial en el tratamiento de personas diagnosticadas con esquizofrenia y trastornos delirantes en una comunidad en Río de Janeiro / The impact of territorial care in the treatment of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and delusional disorders in a Rio de Janeiro community

RESUMEN El cuidado de personas diagnosticadas con trastornos esquizofrénicos y delirantes representa un desafío, especialmente, en territorios de gran vulnerabilidad social. En Río de Janeiro, con la promulgación de la Ley Federal 10216 de 2001 sobre la Reforma Psiquiátrica, las últimas dos décadas se han caracterizado por la transición del modelo centrado en el hospital al modelo basado en los servicios comunitarios. Utilizando el caso de una comunidad de Río de Janeiro, se seleccionaron cinco servicios de salud pública y se extrajeron datos de los registros médicos de 94 pacientes con diagnósticos de esquizofrenia, trastornos esquizotípicos y trastornos delirantes (codificados en la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades 10 edición entre los códigos F20 a F29) y se analizaron indicadores de calidad del tratamiento ofrecido en el período 2003-2016. Como resultado de la transición se observa que los hospitales psiquiátricos quedaron casi vacíos con un bajo número de pacientes actualmente desatendidos. Además, la atención a la crisis y las hospitalizaciones a largo plazo se reemplazaron por la atención territorial y las comorbilidades clínicas se monitorean y se tratan en unidades de salud familiar.

ABSTRACT Care for people diagnosed with schizophrenia and delusional disorders involves many challenges, especially in territorial contexts of pronounced social vulnerability. In Rio de Janeiro, the two decades after the passing of Federal Law 10,216 on Psychiatric Reform in 2001 have been characterized by the transition from a hospital-centered model to one based on community services. Taking the case of a community in Rio de Janeiro, data was extracted from the medical records of 94 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizotypal disorders, and delusional disorders (ICD-10 codes F20 to F29) in five public health services. Covering the period from 2003 to 2016, indicators of the quality of treatment provided were analyzed. As a result of this transition, psychiatric hospitals have all but emptied and a low number of currently untreated patients can be observed. In addition, crisis care and long-term hospitalizations have been replaced by territorial care, and clinical comorbidities are monitored and treated at Family Health Units.

The de Clérambault syndrome: more than just a delusional disorder?

The de Clérambault syndrome, commonly known as erotomania, is a delusional disorder in which the patient is convinced that another person has fallen in love with him or her. The syndrome is more frequent in female patients, who usually believe that their lover is a man belonging to a higher social and economic class, or is married, unknown, or even imaginary or deceased person. The course of the syndrome is usually chronic, with serious problematic behavioural consequences, including stalking behaviours, such as repetitive calling, unexpected visits or continuous attempts to send gifts or letters. According to the DSM-5, this syndrome is included in the erotomanic type of the delusional disorder, however, it is usually neglected in psychiatric practice and almost forgotten by modern psychiatrists.

A new somatic-type delusional disorder subtype: delusion inversus.

The interplay between psychiatric and dermatologic conditions has been recognized for decades as evidenced by the widely accepted classification system of psychocutaneous disorders: (1) primary dermatologic disorder with psychiatric sequelae, (2) primary dermatologic disorder exacerbated by stress, (3) primary psychiatric disorder with dermatologic sequelae, and (4) miscellaneous. However, there is minimal literature regarding dermatologic patients who demonstrate a preoccupation with a more severe cutaneous disorder despite evidence confirming a diagnosis of a minor, treatable skin condition. These patients are a hybrid of the first and fourth categories and should be classified under a new entity known as delusion inversus. These patients have a primary dermatologic condition; however, they believe their condition to be more severe and malignant than it is, despite evidence to the contrary. Their beliefs are pathological and analogous to delusion disorder somatic type. Given the scarcity of data concerning delusion inversus, the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of the disorder as described in this review is extrapolated from reported cases of delusion disorder and delusion disorder somatic-type. Often these patients will present to a non-psychiatric, outpatient clinic for medical care. Thus, it is imperative that dermatologists are able to identify the condition and manage the patient appropriately.

[Capgras symptom associated parricides. 2 case reports]. / Capgras-féle tünettel összefüggo szülogyilkosságok. Két eset bemutatása.

Capgras symptom is characterized by the delusional belief that a person significant to the patient has been replaced by a 'double' or 'impostor'. Capgras symptom was discussed to be associated with violent behavior. We report here the cases of two male patients with schizophrenia paranoid type, where parricide was connected to Capgras delusion. It is important to emphasize that in our observed cases, non-adherence played an essential role in the development of violent behavior, parricide. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(42): 1673-1676.

Automated detection of schizophrenia using nonlinear signal processing methods.

Examination of the brain's condition with the Electroencephalogram (EEG) can be helpful to predict abnormality and cerebral activities. The purpose of this study was to develop an Automated Diagnostic Tool (ADT) to investigate and classify the EEG signal patterns into normal and schizophrenia classes. The ADT implements a sequence of events, such as EEG series splitting, non-linear features mining, t-test assisted feature selection, classification and validation. The proposed ADT is employed to evaluate a 19-channel EEG signal collected from normal and schizophrenia class volunteers. A dataset was created by splitting the raw 19-channel EEG into a sequence of 6250 sample points, which was helpful to produce 1142 features of normal and schizophrenia class patterns. Non-linear feature extraction was then implemented to mine 157 features from each EEG pattern, from which 14 of the principal features were identified based on significance. Finally, a signal classification practice with Decision-Tree (DT), Linear-Discriminant analysis (LD), k-Nearest-Neighbour (KNN), Probabilistic-Neural-Network (PNN), and Support-Vector-Machine (SVM) with various kernels was implemented. The experimental outcome showed that the SVM with Radial-Basis-Function (SVM-RBF) offered a superior average performance value of 92.91% on the considered EEG dataset, as compared to other classifiers implemented in this work.