Литий и циркадные ритмы

According to Dr. Qing-Jun Meng in the university’s Faculty of Life Sciences, the extreme mood swings in bipolar disorder are associated with disruptions in circadian rhythms — the 24-hour rhythms controlled by our body clocks that govern our day and night activity.
“By tracking the dynamics of a key clock protein, we discovered that lithium increased the strength of the clockwork in cells up to threefold by blocking the actions of an enzyme called glycogen synthase kinase or GSK3,” he said.

Lithium Impacts Bipolar Disorder by Strengthening Body Clock 

Влияние различных гормонов на симптомы шизофрении

The relationship between androgens and mental state seems particularly complicated. Animal evidence suggests that testosterone may be propsychotic, given that administration of testosterone significantly enhanced NMDA antagonist-induced disruptions in prepulse inhibition in OVX rats. There is also limited evidence that high-dose androgenic steroids can induce psychiatric symptoms in humans; however, most of the research to date into androgens and mental state has focused on the testosterone precursors dehydroepiandrosterone and DHEA-sulfate (DHEA-S). DHEA(S) is neuroprotective in the rodent brain, and differences in DHEA(S) blood levels between psychotic patients and healthy controls are widely reported; however, the direction of these differences is far from consistent. Results from clinical studies trialling DHEA(S) as an augmentation strategy have been similarly contradictory, with some studies finding a modest treatment effect and others reporting no superiority over placebo. Further research is needed. Pregnenolone and its metabolites pregnenolone sulfate and allopregnanolone seem more promising. In addition to also possessing neuromodulatory and neuroprotective properties, these neurosteroids exert positive effects in rodent models of cognition and psychosis.Serum levels of pregnenolone have been found to be lower in patients with schizophrenia than in healthy controls, and antipsychotic medications can significantly increase pregnenolone levels in the brain. A review of three small pilot studies investigating pregnenolone as an adjunctive intervention for patients with schizophrenia reports that pregnenolone was able to improve psychotic and cognitive symptoms, paving the way for future research into this compound. Recently, oxytocin has also emerged as possibly having an influence on mental state after one study found that higher peripheral oxytocin levels were associated with decreased symptom severity in women with chronic schizophrenia, and another study demonstrated efficacy of intranasal oxytocin as an adjunctive therapy in a randomized, cross-over sample of 15 schizophrenia patients.

 Hormones and Schizophrenia

Празозин как средство от ночных кошмаров

Mayo Clinic investigators have completed a systematic literature review of prazosin in the treatment of nightmares. Researchers investigated 12 prazosin studies, four of which were randomized controlled trials.
“The studies showed the drug was well-tolerated and can take effect rapidly, within days to weeks, and some patients reported a return of nightmares when the course of prazosin was stopped,” said Simon Kung, M.D., principal investigator of the study.

 Blood Pressure Drug Relieves PTSD Nightmares

Психодерматология

Psychodermatology is a relatively new discipline in psychosomatic medicine. It is the interaction between mind and skin. The two disciplines are interconnected at the embryonal level through ectoderm. There is a complex interplay between skin and the neuroendocrine and immune systems. Skin responds to both endogenous and exogenous stimuli; it senses and integrates environmental cues and transmits intrinsic conditions to the outside world.

 Psychodermatology: When the Mind and Skin Interact

Механизм действия ТГК на когнитивные функции

The star-shaped astrocytes have long been considered nothing more than support cells that protect neurons. “Our study provides compelling evidence that astrocytes control neurons and memory,” says Zhang. “The supporting actor has become the leading actor.”
The psychoactive ingredient of marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Using microelectrodes implanted into the brains of anaesthetized rats, the researchers found that the compound weakens the connections, or synapses, between neurons in the hippocampus, a structure that is crucial for memory formation.

How marijuana makes you forget

Исследование влияния диет без глютена или казеина на симптоматику расстройств аутистического спектра

For those children with GI and allergy symptoms, a gluten-free, casein-free diet was more effective in improving ASD behaviors, physiological symptoms and social behaviors compared to children without these symptoms.
Specifically, when a gluten-free, casein-free diet was strictly followed, parents witnessed an improvement in GI symptoms in their children as well as improvements in social behaviors, such as language production, eye contact, engagement, attention span, requesting behavior and social responsiveness.
Autism may be more than a neurological disease, says Laura Cousino Klein, associate professor of bio-behavioral health and human development and family studies—it may involve the GI tract and the immune system.
“There are strong connections between the immune system and the brain, which are mediated through multiple physiological symptoms,” Klein said. “A majority of the pain receptors in the body are located in the gut, so by adhering to a gluten-free, casein-free diet, you’re reducing inflammation and discomfort that may alter brain processing, making the body more receptive to ASD therapies.”
Furthermore, when all gluten and casein was removed from the diet, parents reported that a greater number of ASD behaviors, physiological symptoms and social behaviors improved in their children compared to those whose parents did not eliminate all gluten and casein. Also, parents who implemented the diet for six months or less reported that the diet was less effective in reducing ASD behaviors.
Some of the parents had eliminated only gluten or only casein from the diet, but survey results suggested that parents who completely eliminated both gluten and casein reported the most benefit.

Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet Shows Promise for Autism Symptoms

Исследования миноциклина при шизофрении

A cheap antibiotic normally prescribed to teenagers for acne is to be tested as a treatment to alleviate the symptoms of psychosis in patients with schizophrenia, in a trial that could advance scientific understanding of the causes of mental illness.
The National Institute for Health Research is funding a £1.9m trial of minocycline, which will begin recruiting patients in the UK next month. The research follows case reports from Japan in which the drug was prescribed to patients with schizophrenia who had infections and led to dramatic improvements in their psychotic symptoms.
The chance observation caused researchers to test the drug in patients with schizophrenia around the world. Trials in Israel, Pakistan and Brazil have shown significant improvement in patients treated with the drug.
Scientists believe that schizophrenia and other mental illnesses including depression and Alzheimer's disease may result from inflammatory processes in the brain. Minocycline has anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects which they believe could account for the positive findings.

Scientists shocked to find antibiotics alleviate symptoms of schizophrenia

Глюкокортикостероиды и риск суицида

Glucocorticoid medications given in primary care settings are associated with suicidal behaviors and severe neuropsychiatric disorders, new research suggests.

In a large, population-based study of adult patients in the United Kingdom (UK), those receiving glucocorticoids were almost 7 times more likely to commit or attempt suicide, more than 5 times more likely to develop delirium, more than 4 times more likely to develop mania, and almost twice as likely to develop depression than those with the same underlying conditions who did not receive the medications.

In addition, patients younger than 30 years were at particular risk for suicide attempts, women were more at risk for depression, and men were at especially increased risk for mania and delirium/confusion/disorientation. Higher dosages of the medications were also linked to an overall greater risk for adverse outcomes.

 Glucocorticoids Linked to Suicide, Neuropsychiatric Disorders