Volume 3, Number 1
News from the Johns Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
BENCHMARKS: Selected Recent Research Publications
Suicide and Chromosome Two
A handful of previous studies—ones with twins, for example—suggests that attempting suicide may have some genetic basis. Now a team of Hopkins and other researchers led by Virginia Willour, Ph.D., has shed stronger light on that possibility. Analysis of a whole-genome linkage study of 162 families with bipolar disorder—some members attempted suicide—revealed a significant site on chromosome two. It’s not the first time that site’s been pointed t It surfaced in earlier studies of attempted suicide in families with major depression or with alcoholism, both diseases with high suicide risk. Biological Psychiatry, March 2007
Click here to link to the article abstract in PubMed.
Hormonal Mood Upsets More Common in Some Women
Women with a history of depressive or bipolar disorder often have premenstrual mood problems or mood upsets after childbirth or around menopause, evidence shows. But nothing concrete tells how commonly that occurs, says Jennifer Payne, M.D., whose recent study addressed the issue. Payne led a team that reviewed earlier studies’ data with a new eye for the prevalence of cycle- linked symptoms—one data set came from family pedigrees with early-onset major depression and another from a 10-site study in families with bipolar disorder: 2,524 women in all. The results? Almost 68 percent of women with mood disorders reported premenstrual symptoms, compared with 34 percent of those without. For postpartum problems, it was 21 percent vs. 3 percent. Journal of Affective Disorders, Oct. 2, 2006
Click here to link to article abstract in PubMed.
Weight Gain: Mapping Clozapine's Added Insult
No one doubts the benefits of atypical antipsychotic drugs like clozapine in improving schizophrenia. One down side is the often large weight gain as patients’ appetites rise. Major studies are ongoing to map the biology and so increase the likelihood of blocking this side effect. Interest centers on a key enzyme in the hypothalamus, AMP kinase, that tips the balance toward hunger. Recently, a team headed by Solomon Snyder, M.D., showed that the current drugs potently stimulate the enzyme by first docking with a specific histamine receptor. It’s a small but firm step on a road to improving therapy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Feb. 19, 2007
Click here to link to article abstract in PubMed.
Cognitively Impaired? Check Uric Acid
A simple blood test to measure uric acid might expose a risk factor for cognitive problems in old age, says David Schretlen, Ph.D., who led a recent Hopkins-Yale study. Of 96 community-dwelling adults age 60 to 92, those with high normal uric acid levels had the lowest scores on tests of mental processing speed and verbal and working memory. “Primary care physicians might want to ask elderly patients with elevated serum uric acid if they've noticed problems in thinking,” Schretlen says. Neuropsychological screening might be a good idea. Neuropsychology, January 2007
Click here to link to article abstract in PubMed.
See more recent psychiatry research publications at Webnotes.
