RESUMEN
The functional significance of hypothalams-pituitary axis as a neurohormonal link between endocrine glands and target organs is well established. It has also been demonstrated that three hormones of anterior pituitary viz. Prolactin (PRL), Lutenising hormone (LH) and Growth hormone (GH) have definite link with Dopamine (DA), the latter being implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Radio immune assay technique was employed in estimation. Significantly low PRL level was found in majority of cases. However there was no significant corelation with effects of therapy or with L-DOPA administration. Similarly LH level was also found low indicating increased DA activity but the low level persisted even after therapy. GH level did not show any alteration in the patients, even when compared to different blood sugar levels and L-DOPA administration.
RESUMEN
For centuries it has been a common belief that any abnormality of physique is an accompaniment of mental illness. Recently interest has been focussed on the degree of masculinity or conversely feminity in the constitution. An index of this parameter called 'androgynae' can be derived from Taner's formula. Physique acts as a manifestation of the gene complex mediated possibly through endocrines and hence should reflect on the excretion pattern of 17 ketosteroids. Personality being a constitutional variation, it ought to be related to physique and in turn to the androgenic activities. M-f profile of the MMPI should locate such variation in that case. Present work was planned to find out implication of each of these parameters and to see if there is any correlation between them. It was seen that the psychiatric patients had low androgynae scores than the normals but the 17 ketosteroid excretion was higher. This was unexpected. M-f profile of the patients did not show any significant difference from the control. Results are discussed in the light of available literature.
RESUMEN
Research on sex chromosome aberrations has made considerable progress. There are evidences that possession of an extra X chromosome may affect the mental health of an individual. All the male schizophrenia patients registered during the period of study, who were not under treatment, constituted the patient sample. They numbered two hundered eighty seven. A properly matched control sample of two hundred thirty three healthy persons was also examined. Nuclear sexing and Karyotype was done for (a) all the chromatin positive cases in patient as well as control sample (b) ten per cent cases of normal XY individual's of patient sample(28) and control sample (23) Photography was done for the positive slides. The patients who showed chromation positive XXY pattern were studied further clinically along with Rorschach test and Bhatia battery. The schizophrenics showed more prevalence of chromatin positive than the control sample.
RESUMEN
A double blind study of one hundred twenty patients ( ninety schizophrenics and thirty depressives )-who were divided equally into three groups, who received either (a) bilateral ECT or (b) unilateral application of electrodes on non-dominant hemisphere or (c) unilateral on dominant hemisphere was conducted. The three groups were compared regarding efficacy of the therapy, effects on memory, speed of recovery from each shock session and lastly changes in the electro-encephalogram.It was found that all the three techniques were more or less equal in therapeutic efficacy. There was no significant difference between them in the speed of recovery, nor in the EEG changes. Only difference was that in the field of memory, unilateral non-dominant group showed significant improvement in the 'immediate verbal recall' component of memory in particular. Results have been discussed in view of the current literature on the subject.
RESUMEN
Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome is one of the most frequent cardiac valvular abnormalities in general population. Mostly the patients remain asymptomatic but a few may suffer from hyperadrenergic panic states, similar to anxiety attacks. In psychiatric practice, a number of physicians have come across this finding during the recent past. Present article deals with two such case illustrations.
RESUMEN
A total of 519 consecutive patients, admitted to psychiatric wards of two different hospitals, were screened for evidence of increased excretion of porphobilinogen in the urine by original Watson Schwartz test and modified Watson Schwartz test supported with quantitative estimation of porphobilinogen by Remington's method in search of cases of acute porphyria amongst psychiatric patients. An additional 273 normal healthy volunteers were also screened as controls. Two cases (0.38%) were found which could be unequivocally diagnosed to be suffering from acute intermittent porphyria amongst psychiatric patients. These cases belonged to the category of missed diagnosis being labelled as hysterical. Seven more cases were positive by modified Watson Schwartz test but the test was only transiently positive and the Ehrlichaldehyde reactor substance was unstable. In the absence of detailed enzymatic and family studies, these cases have been kept under the category of suspected prophyria. A significant number of psychiatric patients (12.9%) gave positive original Watson-Schwartz test but were negative for modified test. Similar reaction was seen in 2.6% of healthy controls. The significance of this finding needs to be evaluated.
RESUMEN
We have measured the levels of glycosphingolipids and the activity of glycosphingolipid glycosyltransferases in human aortic intima and media from patients who died of atherosclerosis. The effects of lactosylceramide (LacCer) and glucosylceramide (GlcCer) from plaque intima on smooth muscle cell proliferation were assessed. When the GlcCer data was expressed as (micrograms GlcCer/mg cholesterol and/mg total phospholipid, a 28-fold and 7-fold increase in plaque intima compared to normal intima was observed. Similarly, the level of LacCer was elevated 5-fold and 4-fold, respectively, compared to unaffected intima. The activity of UDP-GlcCer: ceramide beta 1-->4 glucosyltransferase (GlcT-1) was similar in unaffected tissue, fatty streaks, and plaques. However, the activity of UDP-galactose: GlcCer, beta 1-->4 galactosyltransferase (GalT-2) activity was moderately higher in plaque than in unaffected tissue. LacCer, but not GlcCer derived from plaque intima exerted a approximately 2.8-fold increase in the proliferation of human aortic smooth muscle cells grown in tissue culture compared to control presumably due to a marked increase in LacCer molecular species containing C16:0, C22:1, and C24:0 fatty acids in plaque intima compared to control. In sum, our findings provide an interesting and novel pathogenic mechanism of lactosylceramide mediated plaque formation via stimulation of aortic smooth muscle cell proliferation.