L’espace de la santé mentale : un paysage discursif et clinique en remaniement

Objectives

This paper introduces some epistemology about mental health developments and how it leads to reconsider the landscape of clinical practices.

Carbamazepine, diuretics, and hyponatremia: a possible interaction

Although carbamazepine is known to cause hyponatremia, no previous reports have indicated an interaction between carbamazepine and a diuretic. Two patients are described who were treated with this combination and developed symptomatic hyponatremia, which cleared when both drugs were discontinued in one patient and when the diuretic was discontinued in the second patient. The possible mechanisms of action of carbamazepine-induced hyponatremia are discussed.     

XPS analysis of poly[(3-hydroxybutyric acid)-co-(3-hydroxyvaleric acid)] film surfaces exposed to an allylamine low-pressure plasma

Homogeneous and stable layers were deposited through allylamine plasma polymerization (75 W, 100 Pa, 15 min) onto poly[(3-hydroxybutyric acid)-co-(3-hydroxyvaleric acid)] (91 : 9 wt.-%) (P(HB-co-9%HV)) film surfaces, XPS analysis using take-off angles of 20° and 70° and performed 10 days and 20 days after plasma treatment gives information on the composition (in atom%) of the modified surface: C, 62.74; N, 19.60; O, 17.65. The unexpected oxygen percentage is weaker if argon plasma pretreatment (25 W, 40 Pa, 5 min) is applied. Then, a succinct mechanism is proposed. The study of changes in element ratios and binding energy values shows that the majority of incorporated functional groups seem to be amide and imine groups.     

A preliminary study of serotonergic antidepressants in treatment of dysthymia

Rosenthal, Jesse et al. A Preliminary Study of Serotonergic Antidepressants in the Treatment of Dysthymia. Prog. Neuro-Psychopharmacol. & Biol. Psychiat. 1992, 16(6): 933–941.

1. 1. There is increasing evidence that antidepressants may alleviate symptoms of dysthymia, but few prior studies on selective serotonergic agents.

2. 2. Twenty patients meeting criteria for dysthymia, but not meeting criteria for major depression, received open label trials of a serotonergic antidepressant, either fluoxetine or trazodone.

3. 3. Seventeen (85%) completed three-month medication trials, and of these, twelve (70.6% of completers) responded to treatment. Seven (41.2% of completers) were still in remission on followup at five months.

4. 4. Both fluoxetine and trazodone were well tolerated in dysthymics, and showed similar short-term effectiveness in treating dysthymic symptoms.

Impaired hepatic handling and processing of lysophosphatidylcholine in rats with liver cirrhosis

Lysophosphatidylcholine is a major metabolic product in the plasma and cellular turnover of phospholipids, with well-known membrane-toxic and proinflammatory properties. Because the liver plays a key role in plasma lysophosphatidylcholine removal and biotransformation and because virtually nothing is known of these processes in a diseased organ, the hepatobiliary metabolism of lysophosphatidylcholine was investigated in rats with carbon tetrachloride-induced liver cirrhosis. Twelve adult male Wistar rats with histologically confirmed cirrhosis and 8 control animals were fitted with jugular and biliary catheters and allowed to recover. The animals were kept under constant IV infusion of taurocholate (1 mumol/min). Two microcuries of sn-1[14C]palmitoyl-lysophosphatidylcholine was administered as a single bolus. The fate of the injected radioactivity, including removal from plasma, uptake, and subcellular location in the liver and molecular and aggregative forms, was studied by combined chromatographic and radiochemical methods. Major findings were (a) that lysophosphatidylcholine has a prolonged permanence in plasma of cirrhotic rats, due both to decreased hepatic clearance and to depressed conversion into phosphatidylcholine; (b) that the rate of lysophosphatidylcholine acylation is much slower in the cirrhotic than in the normal liver, both at the microsomal and at the cytosolic level; (c) that cytosolic lysophosphatidylcholine in the cirrhotic liver, but not in the normal liver, is predominantly non-protein bound; (d) that the strict molecular selectivity of lysophosphatidylcholine acylation observed in controls is partially lost in cirrhosis; and (e) that a consistent fraction of lysophosphatidylcholine is converted into triacylglycerols in cirrhotics but not in controls. These findings show a profound derangment of lysophosphatidylcholine handling and processing in the cirrhotic liver, which is of potential pathogenetic significance.     

On the structure of the mesomorphic form of syndiotactic polystyrene

In this contribution, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of a highly oriented sample of syndiotactic polystyrene in the mesomorphic form, collected by an automatic diffractometer, is presented, thus providing quantitative and more complete information relative to the diffracted intensity. The structural changes induced by annealing procedures in mesomorphic samples are shown through the analysis of the XRD patterns: both unoriented and oriented mesomorphic samples are transformed gradually into α-form crystals. On the basis of these evidences and of preliminary comparisons between the calculated Fourier transform of simplified models and the experimental diffraction intensity, it is suggested that the local organization in triplets of trans-planar chains, typical of the different modifications of the α-form, would be largely present also in the disordered chain agglomerates of the mesomorphic form.     

Tardive dyskinesia in the course of antidepressant therapy: a prevalence study and review of the literature

The authors present a prevalence study of tardive dyskinesia (TD) in the course of antidepressant therapy. Of the 50 patients evaluated, three developed TD. TD developed rapidly and in a short period of time. Withdrawal of antidepressant improved TD in two patients. The literature on TD developing in the course of antidepressant therapy is reviewed, and the different etiological theories are examined.     

Biological effects of cyclosporin A: A new antilymphocytic agent

The fungus metabolite cyclosporin A is a small peptide acting as a novel antilymphocytic agent. It strongly depressed appearance of both direct and indirect plaque-forming cells and produced a clear dose-dependent inhibition of haemagglutinin formation in mice upon oral administration. Skin graft rejection in mice and graft-versus-host disease in mice and rats were considerably delayed by cyclosporin A which also prevented the occurrence of paralysis in rats with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. This compound was not only highly effective in preventing development of Freund's adjuvant arthritis, but in addition improved the symptoms in rats with established arthritis, although it is inactive in acute inflammation. This new agent contrasts with other immunosuppressives and cytostatic drugs in its weak myelotoxicity. Experimental evidence suggests that cyclosporin A, rather than being cytostatic or lympholytic, affects an early stage of mitogenic triggering of the immunocompetent lymphoid cell.