Testosterone levels and clinical features of schizophrenia with emphasis on negative symptoms and aggression.

BACKGROUND: Aggressive behavior and negative symptoms are two features of schizophrenia that may have a hormonal basis. AIM: The aim of this study was to compare testosterone level with clinical features of schizophrenia, focusing on negative symptoms and aggressive behavior. METHODS: The study population consisted of 120 male schizophrenic patients (ages 18-40) classified into non-aggressive (n = 60) and aggressive (n = 60) groups. Depending on the type of aggression that was manifested prior to admission, the aggressive group was divided into violent (n = 32) and suicidal (n = 28) subgroups. Psychopathological severity, violence and suicidality were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Overt Aggression Scale and Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, respectively. Total serum testosterone level was determined on the same morning that symptoms were assessed. RESULTS: In the non-aggressive group, testosterone level was negatively correlated with the score on the negative subscale of PANSS (P = 0.04) and depression (P = 0.013), and positively correlated with excitement (P = 0.027), hostility (P = 0.02) and impulsive behavior (P = 0.008). In the aggressive group, testosterone level had non-significant correlation with these parameters, and with violent or suicidal behavior. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirmed that non-aggressive male schizophrenic patients with lower levels of testosterone had a greater severity of negative symptoms. In aggressive patients, there was no correlation between testosterone and clinical features of the disorder or the degree or type of aggression. These findings indicate that therapeutic strategies targeting testosterone could be useful in the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Psychofarmacology in the prevention of somatic comorbid diseases in mentally ill patients.

It is a well known fact that mentally ill patients, especially those with schizophrenia, have a higher incidence of somatic diseases than the general population and finally a significantly shorter life expectancy. In this paper a comparison is made between schizophrenia and somatic comorbidity before the era of antipsychotics and after, with consideration to the prevalent morbidity during each of these periods. In the period before antipsychotics acute infectious diseases and TBC were the prevalent comorbid diseases. High comorbidity rates were due not only to epidemics but also poor treatment success, deficient health habits and poor personal hygiene. In the period after the discovery of antipsychotics significant changes in morbidity occurred with the prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases, primarily diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia. Studies show that new generation antipsychotics partly generate the occurrence of metabolic disorders, which makes it necessary to consider the choice of antipsychotic depending on the assessed risk in every individual case.

Dietary habits and folate status in women of childbearing age in Croatia.

Folic acid and folates have an important role in prevention of neural tube defect that appears in the first weeks of pregnancy, when women are still not aware of their pregnancy, especially when pregnancy is not planned. Since ensuring sufficient quantities of folates and folic acid in this period is essential, dietary habits of childbearing age women are very important. In line with that the intake of folates and folic acid in nutrition of women age group 20-30 years is examined, as well as the frequency of consumption of foodstuffs rich in vitamins and folic acid supplements. Values of folates in serum are presented, dependent on their nutritional habits. Obtained results indicate that in spite of inadequate intake of folates and folic acid from foodstuffs, clinical deficit is not recorded, which is the result of frequent consumption of dietary supplements. In accordance with these dietary habits, differences in the folates status of examinees were observed.