Academics should be careful not to exaggerate the progress made in Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall

On 9 November, Europe marked the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ivan T. Berend and Bojan Bugaric write that while the anniversary has motivated several commentators to celebrate the achievements made in the region during the post-communist period, we should be careful not to exaggerate the progress made within Central and Eastern European states. They argue that significant challenges still remain, including the danger of ‘democratic regression’ in countries such as Hungary and Slovenia

Central and Eastern Europe in the world economy: Past and prospects

This article offers an overview of some of the most important economic trends in Central and Eastern Europe from a comparative perspective. It also ventures tentative predictions concerning the economic future of the region

The Role of Farming Production and Agriculture in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe During the Period Between the Two World Wars

The author in this article has indicated a number of essential features of the development of farming production and agriculture in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe between the two world wars. His work is based on his own research and on his excellent knowledge of relevant literature in the worId. The article is divided into three parts. In the first part (Preconceptions in Agricultural Production) the author, by means of a concise comparative analysis, draws attention to certain basic world tendencies of agricultural development, especially the latent causes of the agricultural crisis between the wars in the area concerned, and the reaction to it of individual countries or regions. In the second part (Investment in Agriculture and its Development Factors) the author sets himself to examine the role and influence in the development of Eastern European agriculture of certain basic factors: labour, increases in the area of cultivable agricultural land, modernisation of farming methods. He concludes that the development of agriculture in the period between the wars was subject chiefly to developmental factors characteristic of the 19th century. In the third part of his article (The Development of Production) the author analyses the influence of International trade relations and of domestic conditions of production on the possibilities of development of agricultural production in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe

Association of polymorphism in the dopamine receptors and transporter genes with hyperprolactinemia in patients with schizophrenia

Association of polymorphism in the dopamine receptors and transporter genes with hyperprolactinemia in patients with schizophrenia D. Osmanova(1), A.S. Boiko(1), O.Y. Fedorenko(1), I.V. Pozhidaev(1), M.B. Freidin(2), E.G. Kornetova(3), S.A. Ivanova(1), B. Wilffert(4), A.J.M. Loonen(5) (1)Mental Health Research Institute- Tomsk NRMC, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Tomsk, Russia (2)Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk NRMC, Laboratory of Population Genetics, Tomsk, Russia (3)Mental Health Research Institute- Tomsk NRMC, Department of Clinical and Social Psychiatry and Addiction, Tomsk, Russia (4)Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmacotherapy and Clinical Pharmacology, Groningen, The Netherlands (5)Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmacotherapy in Psychiatric Patients, Groningen, The Netherlands Background: Long-term antipsychotic drug use remains the mainstay of treatment for patients with schizophrenia. However, pharmacotherapy with these drugs is complicated by several troublesome side effects, including hyperprolactinemia (HP). Prolactin secretion is persistently inhibited by dopamine, and antipsychotic drugs are believed to increase prolactin release by blocking dopamine receptors in the pituitary gland. Genetic factors play an important role in the development of antipsychotic induced HP [1,2]. Genes coding for dopamine receptors and transporters are considered to be responsible for HP in schizophrenia [3]. The present study aimed to investigate the role of polymorphisms of the dopamine receptors and transporters genes (DRD1, DRD2, SLC6A3) in the pathogenesis of antipsychotic-related HP in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: 431 Russian patients with schizophrenia were examined. The average age of patients was 42.1 ± 1.4 years. Evaluation of serum prolactin level was performed by ELISA using reagents set PRL Test System (USA). Genotyping was carried out on 17 polymorphic variants of the dopamine receptors and transporters genes DRD1 (rs4532, rs936461), DRD2 (rs4245147, rs6279, rs2734842) and SLC6A3 (rs3756450, rs2550956, rs6347, rs2617605, rs3863145, rs250686, rs464049, rs4975646, rs1048953, rs11133767, rs27048, rs40184). The SPSS software was used for statistical analysis. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) of genotypic frequencies was tested by the chi-square test. Results: We studied the association between HP and a set of SNPs from DRD1, DRD2 receptor genes and neurotransmitter transporter SLC6A3 in patients from Siberia with a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia who were treated with classical and/or atypical antipsychotic drugs. All patients with schizophrenia were divided into two groups: those with and without HP. Physiological normal results for the serum prolactin levels are less than 20 ng/ml in men, and less than 25 ng/ml in women. Statistically significant result was obtained for polymorphic variant rs2550956 of the gene SLC6A3 (χ2 = 9.992; p = 0.007), which suggests its involvement in the development of HP. The heterozygous genotype TC of rs2550956 was significantly less common in patients with elevated levels of prolactin and it presumably has protective properties (OR 0.54; 95% CI: 0.36–0.81). We did not find any statistically significant associations for other polymorphisms DRD1 (rs4532, rs936461), DRD2 (rs4245147, rs6279, rs2734842) and SLC6A3 (rs3756450, rs6347, rs2617605, rs3863145, rs250686, rs464049, rs4975646, rs1048953, rs11133767, rs27048, rs40184). The group of dopamine receptors is heterogeneous and only some of them participate in the formation of psychotic symptoms and, accordingly, in the antipsychotic action of neuroleptics. The effect of neuroleptics on other groups of dopamine receptors leads to the development of different side effects including extrapyramidal disorders [4], and their role is extremely low in the formation of the actual therapeutic response. Conclusion: Our results indicate that genetic variants of SLC6A3 may have functional consequences on the modulation of prolactin secretion. Neurotransmitter systems are involved in the mechanisms of action of antipsychotic drugs; therefore, a further search for genetic markers associated with the development of antipsychotic-related hyperprolactinemia in schizophrenic patients is needed. References [1] Ivanova, S.A., Osmanova, D.Z., Boiko, A.S., Pozhidaev, I.V., Freidin, M.B., Fedorenko, O.Y., Semke, A.V., Bokhan, N.A., Kornetova, E.G., Rakhmazova, L.D., Wilffert, B., Loonen, A.J., 2016. Prolactin gene polymorphism (-1149G/T) is associated with hyperprolactinemia in patients with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics. Schizophrenia Research Oct 21, pii: S0920-9964 (16)30473-X. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2016.10.029. [2] Ivanova, S.A., Osmanova, D.Z., Freidin, M.B., Fedorenko, O.Y., Boiko, A.S., Pozhidaev, I.V., Semke, A.V., Bokhan, N.A., Agarkov, A.A., Wilffert, B., Loonen, A.J., 2017. Identification of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor gene polymorphisms modulating hyperprolactinaemia in antipsychotic drug-treated patients with schizophrenia. World J Biol Psychiatry 18 (3), 239–246. [3] Miura, I., Zhang, J.P., Hagi, K., Lencz, T., Kane, J.M., Yabe, H., Malhotra, A.K., Correll, C.U., 2016. Variants in the DRD2 locus and antipsychotic-related prolactin levels: A meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology 72, 1–10. [4] Al Hadithy, A.F.Y., Ivanova, S.A., Pechlivanoglou, P., Semke, A., Fedorenko, O., Kornetova, E., Ryadovaya, L., Brouwers, J.R.B.J., Wilffert, B., Bruggeman, R., Loonen, A.J.M., 2009. Tardive dyskinesia and DRD3, HTR2A and HTR2C gene polymorphisms in Russian psychiatric inpatients from Siberia. Progress in NeuroPsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 33, 475–481. Keywords: Dopamine Genetics / Molecular genetics Schizophrenia: basi

The Failure of Economic Nationalism. Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II

The export-led industrialization effort in pre-World War I Central and Eastern Europe failed. After the War the (mostly newly independent) countries of the region turned toward economic nationalism. Protectionism and aggressive state intervention helped import-substitution but led the rapid development only in consumer good industries. Self-sufficiency was impossible and the region became a part of Hitler's "Grossraumwirtschaft", then Nazi war economy during the 1930s and 1940s. Industrialization, again, failed and the gap between West and East remained as large as before.L'échec du nationalisme économique : l'europe centrale et orientale avant la seconde guerre mondiale L'Europe centrale et orientale avait connu, avant 1914, l'échec de son effort d'industrialisation fondé sur l'exportation. Après la guerre, les pays de la région, dont la plupart venaient d'accéder à l'indépendance, se tournèrent vers le nationalisme économique. Le protectionnisme, associé à une politique ultra-interventionniste de l'État, permit de faire progresser la substitution aux importations, mais la croissance rapide se limitait aux industries de biens de consommation. L'autosuffisance était impossible, et la région devint partie intégrante du Grossraumwirtschaft hitlérien, puis de l'économie de guerre nazie durant les années 1930 et 1940. Une fois encore, l'industrialisation avait échoué : l'écart entre l'Est et l'Ouest demeurait toujours aussi grand.Berend Ivan T. The Failure of Economic Nationalism. Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II. In: Revue économique, volume 51, n°2, 2000. pp. 315-322