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Objectives: The use of atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) in the treatment of schizophrenia has been relevant because of the high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). The sterol-regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP) pathway may contribute to the underlying pathophysiology of AAP-induced metabolic adverse effects. We explored the association between the variants of the sterol-regulatory element-binding transcription factor-1 (SREBF1) gene and the SREBP cleavage-activation protein (SCAP) gene with AAP-induced MetS in a genetic case–control study.Methods: Eleven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) ofSREBF1and five ofSCAPwere genotyped in a Han Chinese population in Beijing, China: a sample of 722 schizophrenia patients on monotherapy with AAPs (clozapine, olanzapine or risperidone). Metabolic parameters were collected and evaluated for MetS criteria.Results: The rs11654081 T-allele of theSREBF1gene was significantly associated with an increased risk for MetS after correction (P = 0.019, odds ratio, OR =2.56, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.4 4–4.54). The rs11654081-TT genotype appeared more frequently in MetS than in non-MetS after correction (P = 0.026, OR =2.37, 95% CI: 1.3 6–4.12).SCAPpolymorphisms with drug-induced MetS were negative in this study.Conclusions: The genetic polymorphisms ofSREBF1could play a role in the mechanism for interindividual variation of AAP-induced MetS. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia is highly prevalent and affects the overall functioning of subjects. The stimulation of the serotonin 1A receptor is a primary characteristic of some atypical antipsychotic drugs. We measured the levels of cognitive impairment using the Morris water maze test and protein kinase A activity in hippocampal neurons on presynaptic and postsynaptic serotonin 1A receptors to investigate the effect of dizocilpine-induced cognitive impairment associated with atypical antipsychotic drugs in rats treated by quetiapine alone or combined with WAY100635/tandospirone. The results of the Morris water maze test presented evidence that quetiapine alone alleviated the cognitive impairment associated with atypical antipsychotic drugs induced by dizocilpine. However, quetiapine plus WAY100635 induced no improvement of cognitive impairment associated with atypical antipsychotic drugs. The results of protein kinase A assay suggested that neither quetiapine alone nor in combination with tandospirone, but not quetiapine plus WAY100635, raised protein kinase A activity in hippocampus neurons. The present study demonstrated the key role of presynaptic serotonin 1A receptors on the therapeutic effect of quetiapine on cognitive impairment associated with atypical antipsychotic drugs. Moreover, that protein kinase A activity in hippocampal cells is involved in the mechanism of quetiapine's effect on cognitive impairment associated with atypical antipsychotic drugs., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (©2019 Han et al. Published by IMR press. All rights reserved.)

Background: The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between apathy and tumor location, size, and brain edema in patients with intracranial meningioma., Methods: We enrolled 65 consecutive patients with meningioma and 31 normal controls matched for age, gender, and education. The patients were divided into frontal or non-frontal (NF) meningioma groups based on magnetic resonance imaging; the frontal group was then subdivided to dorsolateral frontal (DLF), medial frontal (MF), and ventral frontal (VF) groups. Tumor size and brain edema were also recorded. Apathy was assessed by the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES). Assessments were carried out 1 week before and 3 months after surgery, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictive effect of tumor size, location, and brain edema on apathy. Analysis of variance and chi-square analysis were applied to compare apathy scores and apathy rates among the frontal, NF, and normal control groups, and all subgroups within the frontal group., Results: Compared with the NF and control groups, the mean AES score was much higher in the frontal group (34.0±8.3 versus 28.63±6.0, P=0.008, and 26.8±4.2, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that AES scores in the MF group (42.1±6.6) and VF group (34.7±8.0) were higher than in the DLF group (28.5±4.36), NF group, and control group (P<0.05). The apathy rate was 63.6% in the MF group and 25% in the VF group, and significantly higher than in the DLF (5.6%), NF (5.3%), and control (0%) groups (P<0.001). A moderate correlation was found between AES score and mean diameter of the meningioma in all patient groups. Further analysis demonstrated that the correlation existed in the DLF (r=0.52, P=0.032), MF (r=0.84, P<0.001), and VF (r=0.64, P=0.008) groups, but not in the NF group (r=0.19, P=0.448). The AES score was much higher in patients with brain edema than in those without brain edema (34.73±8.28 versus 28.77±4.20, t=3.545, P=0.001). In subgroups within frontal meningioma patients, the statistical significance above only existed in the MF group (43.50±5.26 versus 25.67±6.03, P=0.001). Also, we examined the effect of related factors, such as age, sex, education, tumor size, tumor location and edema on the occurrence of apathy. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that MF [P=0.023, Exp(B) =145.6] and size [P=0.012, Exp(B) =1.20] got into the regression equation. Thirty-two patients underwent follow-up post-surgery. A significant reduction in AES was found in the MF group (AES1 - AES2 =6.86±6.82, t=2.68, P=0.04), but not in any of the other groups., Conclusion: Apathy occurs frequently in patients with frontal meningioma, and is more severe, especially in the MF region. Apathy is probably correlated with tumor location and size. Brain edema might increase the severity of apathy.

Background: Cognitive theorists relate anxiety disorders to the way in which emotional information is processed. The existing research suggests that patients with anxiety disorders tend to allocate their attention toward threat-related information selectively, and this may differ among different types of anxious subjects. The aim of this study was to explore attentional bias in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder (PD) using the emotional Stroop task and compare the differences between them., Methods: Forty-two patients with GAD, 34 patients with PD, and 46 healthy controls performed the emotional Stroop task with four word types, ie, GAD-related words, PD-related words, neutral words, and positive words., Results: Patients with GAD and those with PD were slower than healthy controls to respond to all stimuli. Patients with GAD had longer response latencies in color-naming both PD-relevant words and GAD relevant words. Patients with PD had longer response latencies only in color-naming PD-related words, similar to healthy controls., Conclusion: Patients with GAD and those with PD had a different pattern of attentional bias, and there was insufficient evidence to support the existence of specific attentional bias in patients with PD.

Background: Studies using event-related potential (ERP) methods have reported a relationship between the cognitive dysfunction of patients with schizophrenia and P300 latency and amplitude, but it remains uncertain whether or not these indices change as cognitive functioning improves with pharmacological treatment., Aim: Pool the results from follow-up studies conducted in China to determine the relationship of treatment with antipsychotic medication to changes in P300 indices., Methods: Studies conducted in China and published in English or Chinese from January 1982 to December 2011 that reported P300 latency and amplitude in patients with schizophrenia before and after treatment with antipsychotic medications were identified by electronic and hand searches, and the 12 studies that met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis were independently reviewed by two evaluators. The peak P300 amplitude results for the 17 samples reported in the 12 studies were homogenous so a fixed-effects model was used to assess pooled standardized effect size (PSES); but the results for P300 latency were heterogeneous so a random-effects model was used to compute PSES. Publication bias was assessed using Egger's test, Begg's test and funnel plots., Results: Of the pooled sample of 611 participants, the 502 participants (82.2%) who completed P300 latency and amplitude measures both before and after treatment were included in the meta-analysis. We found that antipsychotic treatment is associated with a small but significant increase in the amplitude of P300 (PSES=0.39, 95% CI [0.26, 0.51], z=6.14, p<0.001) and a small but significant decrease in the latency of P300 (PSES= -0.29, 95% CI [-0.51, -0.07]; z=2.58; p=0.010). There was no significant publication bias in either of the results., Conclusion: In contrast to meta-analysis from western countries - that are primarily based on cross-sectional studies - the current meta-analysis of follow-up treatment studies of schizophrenia in China found that P300 amplitude and latency both change with pharmacological treatment. These findings suggest that P300 indices, particularly P300 amplitude, could be valuable biomarkers to monitor changes in cognitive functioning during treatment of patients with schizophrenia.

Background: The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis so we could evaluate the impact of antipsychotics on the P50 ratio in Chinese schizophrenia patients., Methods: Data were collected from the following databases: PubMed, China Biological Medicine Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Cochrane Library and Elsevier Science Direct, with the latest report up to May 2011. An effect size with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the strength of various effects of antipsychotics on P50 ratio in the patients., Results: A total of six studies including 315 and 285 schizophrenia patients at the baseline and endpoint, respectively. Overall, no significant effect of these medicines on the P50 ratio was found (overall effect z=1.03, p=0.30; heterogeneity: Chi2=2.81, df=8, p=0.95, I2=0%). In subgroup analysis by drug, we did not find any significant effects on P50 ratio in either first-generation antipsychotics (effect z=0.92, p=0.36; heterogeneity: Chi2=0.00, df=1, p=0.98, I2=0%) or second-generation antipsychotics (effect z=0.55, p=0.58; heterogeneity: Chi2=2.38, df=5, p=0.79, I2=0%)., Conclusion: Our meta-analysis suggests that neither the first-generation nor the second-generation antipsychotics had any significant effects on P50 ratio in Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent internationally, and constitute a substantial social and economic burden for patients, their families, and society. A number of neuroimaging studies have investigated the etiology of anxiety disorders in China in the last decade. We discuss the findings of these studies, and compare them with the results of neuroimaging studies of anxiety disorders outside China., Method: A literature search was conducted using the Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, the Chinese Scientific and Technical Periodicals Database, the Chinese Journal Full-text Database, and PubMed, from 1989 to April 2009. We selected neuroimaging studies in which all participants and researchers were Chinese., Results: Twenty-five studies fit our inclusion criteria. Nine studies examined general anxiety disorder (GAD) and/or panic disorder (PD), eight examined obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and eight examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our literature review revealed several general findings. First, reduced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was found in the frontal lobe and temporal lobe in patients with GAD and PD compared with healthy controls. Second, when viewing images with negative and positive valence, relatively increased or decreased activation was found in several brain areas in patients with GAD and PD, respectively. Third, studies with positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) imaging revealed that OCD patients exhibited hyperperfusion and hypoperfusion in some brain regions compared with healthy controls. Neuroimaging studies of PTSD indicate that the hippocampal volume and the N-acetylaspartic acid (NAA) level and the NAA/creatine ratio in the hippocampus are decreased in patients relative to controls., Conclusion: Neuroimaging studies within and outside China have provided evidence of specific neurobiological changes associated with anxiety disorders. However, results have not been entirely consistent across different studies of patients with the same diagnoses. International collaborative research using large samples and robust designs should be conducted in future.