Tardive dyskinesia and DRD2, DRD3, DRD4, 5-HT2A variants in schizophrenia: an association study with repeated assessment.

We performed an association study between four candidate genes, DRD2, DRD3, DRD4 and 5-HT2A for the presence of tardive dyskinesia (TD) on 84 patients with residual schizophrenia. The sample was evaluated again for the presence of TD after an interval of 3 years. The first group did not exhibit TD in either observation ( n =34) while in the second group of patients exhibited TD in at least one of the observations ( n =20+18). The clinical and socio-demographic characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups; the genetic analysis revealed a significant correlation between the C/C genotype of 5-HT2A and TD ( p =0.017). An association trend was observed between the 'short' variant of DRD4 and TD ( p =0.022). We did not observe any significant association for the DRD2 and DRD3 polymorphisms

Dopamine receptor D3 gene and response to lithium prophylaxis in mood disorders

Lithium has established itself as an effective prophylactic agent in mood disorders, but not all patients respond to lithium therapy. It is probable that genetic factors play a substantial role in determining the differences in response to lithium. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the dopamine receptor D3 (DRD3) gene and prophylactic efficacy of lithium in mood disorders. Fifty-five subjects affected by bipolar (n=43) and major depressive (n=12) disorder were followed prospectively for an average of 49 months and were also typed for their DRD3 variant, using polymerase chain reaction techniques. DRD3 variants were not associated with lithium outcome. Consideration of possible stratification effects, such as gender, polarity, family history, age at onset or duration of lithium treatment, also did not reveal any associations. DRD3 variants are not, therefore, a major factor influencing the prophylactic efficacy of lithium in mood disorders

The effect of verbalization strategy on wisconsin card sorting test performance in schizophrenic patients receiving classical or atypical antipsychotics

BACKGROUND: A number of reports showed en encouraging remediation in some patients' executive deficits thanks to the use of 'information processing strategies'. Moreover the impact of antipsychotics on cognitive functions of the schizophrenics is an important issue, especially if an integrated psychosocial treatment is needed. The aim of this paper is to evaluate different executive performance and response to verbalization, a strategy of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) remediation, in subjects on classical vs atypical antipsychotic (AP) treatment. METHODS: Sixty-three schizophrenic subjects undertook the WCST under standard and modified (verbalization) administration. Subjects were stratified by the kind of WCST response (i.e. good, poor and remediable) and AP treatment (i.e. atypical vs. classical). RESULTS: Subjects on atypical APs showed a better performance than those on classical ones. More poor performers who did not remediate were seen in the sample with classical Aps while subjects who remediated the performance were seen in the subgroup with atypical APs only. An increase of perseverative and total errors was seen in poor performers subjects on classical APs. CONCLUSION: Subjects on atypicals showed a better cognitive pattern in terms of WCST performance. Since the naturalistic assignment of medication we cannot draw conclusions about its effect on cognitive performance and its interaction with cognitive remediation potential. However the data lead us to hypothesize that subjects with potential room for remediation did so with the atypical APs

Guidance on safety evaluation of sources of nutrients and bioavailability of nutrient from the sources (Revision 1)

This guidance describes the scientific data required to allow an evaluation of the safety of new substances that are proposed for use as sources of nutrients in food supplements, foods for the general population or foods for specific groups and an assessment of the bioavailability of the nutrient from the proposed source. This guidance describes the scientific data required to allow an evaluation of the safety of the source within the established framework for risk assessment of food additives and novel food ingredients and the bioavailability of the nutrient from this source. This document is arranged in five main sections: one on technical data aimed at characterising the proposed source and at identifying potential hazards resulting from its manufacture and stability in food; one on existing authorisations and evaluation, providing an overview of previous assessments on the proposed source and their conclusions; one on proposed uses and exposure assessment section, allowing an estimate of the dietary exposure to the source and the nutrient based on the proposed uses and use levels; one on toxicological data, describing approaches which can be used to identify (in conjunction with data on manufacture and composition) and to characterise hazards of the source and any relevant breakdown products; the final section on bioavailability focuses on determining the extent to which the nutrient from the proposed source is available for use by the body in comparison with one or more forms of the same nutrient that are already permitted for use on the positive lists. This guidance was adopted by the Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS Panel) on 16 May 2018. Upon request from EFSA, the present guidance has been revised to inform applicants of new provisions set out in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2019/1381 on the transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain

Incidence of Acinetobacter baumannii and other pathogens isolated from Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital San Carlo, Genoa - Voltri

Acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging pathogen of great impact especially in nosocomial settings due to its complex epidemiology that makes its control very difficult. In this study the strains isolated from the Intensive Care Unite were analysed. Materials and methods. All the patients admitted into intensive care of San Carlo Hospital,Voltri, Genoa, Italy (ASL 3) in the period from May to December 2009 were considered.A total of 63 patients were studied including 31 women and 32 men, with an average of 73 years old.The study considered the following biological samples (N): bronchial aspirate and sputum (84), urine (55), blood (28), and other materials (36).The positive samples were processed for strain identification and evaluations of its antibiotic susceptibility pattern by standard VITEK2 system, following the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute Guidelines. Results and Conclusions. From samples taken into account, the prevalent percentage of bacterial species collected was registered by Gram negative (46.3%), followed by Gram positive (36.4%), and fungi (17.3%). Considering Gram negative isolates A. baumannii and Escherichia coli resulted among the prevalent pathogens (23.4 and 24.5% respectively). This microorganism was collected especially from bronchial aspirate (13) followed by urines (4), blood cultures (2) and other materials (3). On the basis of the analysis of the antibiotic susceptibility tests, colistin was active on the totality (100%) of A. baumannii, followed by tigecycline (96.77%).Amikacin resulted also active against a large proportion of these isolates (93.3%). Present findings confirm the great multidrug resistance phenotype of A. baumanii against the main classes of antimicrobial agents and its dangerous diffusion in the Intensive Care Units. For these reasons a continuous surveillance of the evolution of this pathogen toward antibiotic resistance is requested. In this contest it will be important an evaluation of antibiotic susceptibility following the guidelines suggested by EUCAST (European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing)