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Objective: To study alexithymia in schizophrenia and some somatic diseases., Material and Methods: The study included 60 patients with paranoid schizophrenia (ICD-10 F20.0), 55 hypertensive patients with primary heart disease (I11), 53 patients with chronic ischemic heart disease (I25) and 51 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (E10). To assess the manifestations of alexithymia, the Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-26) was used. The Positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) was administered to patients with schizophrenia., Results: The average scores on TAS were higher in patients with schizophrenia compared to patients with somatic diseases (109,73 and 81,66, respectively). During the analysis of responses to TAS statements, features of a general and particular nature were identified., Conclusions: Alexithymia is not a property characteristic of psychosomatic diseases and neurotic disorders, and is detected in schizophrenic patients and patients with somatic diseases. The relationship of alexithymia with negative symptoms of schizophrenia suggests that it might impact on interpersonal relations, social adaptation and development of autistic symptoms in patients.

Objective: Depersonalization disorders (DPDs) are highly prevalent in population. However, the effect of lamotrigine on outpatients with DPD without psychiatric comorbidity has not been studied in a double-blind placebo-controlled design., Method: Eighty patients (all men) were washed out from all medications. Each patient was randomized either to receive lamotrigine (40 patients) for 12 weeks or matched on placebo (40 patients) in a double-blind manner. Eligible participants, in addition to meeting the criteria for DPD from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision, were required to be between 18 and 65 years. Response was defined as a 50% reduction in the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale. Response effects with lamotrigine and placebo were compared by using analysis of variance and χ² tests. Six patients did not return for at least 1 subsequent assessment, and 74 patients dropped out (36 taking lamotrigine and 38 taking placebo) in the valuables study group., Results: Of the 36 lamotrigine-treated participants, 26 responded by 12 weeks versus 6 of the 38 placebo-treated participants (P < 0.001). The most common and problematic adverse effect in the lamotrigine group was rash., Conclusions: The authors believe this to be the first double-blind placebo-controlled randomization study to test the efficacy of lamotrigine in the management of outpatients with DPDs. These need to be replicated in a larger study group.

Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of valproate (Depakine-Chrono) versus placebo for the treatment of acute alcohol hallucinosis., Methods: 10 days' randomized, double-blind, parallel study was conducted; 40 patients with an ICD-10 diagnosis of acute alcohol hallucinosis were randomized to valproate (Depakine-Chrono) 3000 mg/day (n = 20) or placebo (n = 20). The primary efficacy measure was the Clinical Global Improvement (CGI) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), subscale for hallucinosis., Results: Valproate-treated patients demonstrated a greater improvement than placebo-treated patients in CGI (P < 0.001) and PANSS subscale for verbal hallucinosis (P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Valproate is effective in the treatment of acute hallucinosis and is generally well tolerated.

Objective: Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in population of European countries. However, the effect of Valproate (depakine-chrono) on generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has not been studied in a double-blind placebo-controlled design., Method: Eighty patients (all men) were washout from the all medications. Each patient was randomized to receive either depakine-chrono (40 patients) for 6 weeks or matched placebo (40 patients) in a double-blind manner. Eligible participants, in addition to meeting the DSM-IV criteria for GAD and having a minimum score of 25 and more on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, were required to be between 18 and 65 years. Response was defined as a 50% reduction in the Hamilton anxiety scale score. Response and side effects with depakine-chrono and placebo were compared by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square tests. Six patients did not return for at least one subsequent assessment, leaving 74 patients (36 taking depakine-chrono and 38 taking placebo) in the valuables study group., Results: Twenty six of the 36 depakine-chrono-treated participants responded by 6 weeks, versus six of the 38 placebo-treated participants (p<0.001). The most common and problematic side effect in the depakine-chrono group was dizziness and nausea., Conclusions: The authors believe this to be the first double-blind placebo-controlled randomization study to test the efficacy of a depakine-chrono in the management of anxiety disorders. They need to be replicated in a larger study group.

Introduction: Previous studies showed that patients with acute alcohol hallucinosis had significantly lower levels of the inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitter, glycine., Methods: A placebo-controlled, double-blind study of glycine in 40 patients with acute alcohol hallucinosis. Treatment duration was 7 days with no other psychotropic medication., Results: The 20 patients randomised to the active drug (700 mg glycine sublingually) demonstrated a significant decrease in severity of hallucinosis compared to the 20 patients receiving placebo., Conclusion: The positive effects of glycine may be related to an altered balance between excitatory and inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitters., (Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Objective: The importance of serum levels of amino-acid neurotransmitters and of relevant enzymes has not been adequately evaluated in alcoholics. It is hypothesized that several of these neurotransmitters would be likely to be elevated in alcoholics overall, those with alcoholic withdrawal and, especially, individuals undergoing severe withdrawal as might be seen in delirium tremens (DTs)., Method: The subjects for these evaluations (N = 106 men) were 46 hospitalized patients with DTs, 20 subjects with an alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) in the absence of DTs, 20 alcohol-dependent individuals not demonstrating withdrawal (ADS) and 20 nonalcoholic controls. The analyses evaluated the serum levels of glutamate (Glu), aspartate (Asp), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine (Gly), as well as the activity of the relevant enzymes glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and GABA transaminase (GABA-T)., Results: In these analyses, the subjects with DTs had significantly lower serum values for Gly and GAD, as well as for GABA, while demonstrating elevated values for Asp and Glu., Conclusions: These data support the possibility that some of the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, especially DTs, may be related to an altered balance between neurotoxic, or excitatory, and inhibitory amino-acid neurotransmitters.

Plasma levels of excitatory and inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitters were assayed in 20 male patients following alcohol withdrawal and in 20 normal controls. All patients filled out an 'Alcohol withdrawal symptom monitoring sheet', including more than 20 symptoms. The levels of excitatory amino acid were higher and the values of inhibitory amino acid lower in the patients than in the controls. The correlation between the level of excitatory amino acid and the rating of subjective discomfort was positive, and the correlation between the level of inhibitory amino acid and the level of subjective discomfort was negative.