Clinical and Neurophysiological Characteristics of Alcohol Dependence and Its Comorbidity with Affective Disorders

Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology - Objective. To identify the characteristics and possible differences in the clinical signs and electroencephalographic parameters in alcohol dependence...     

An association of AKT1 gene polymorphism with antidepressant treatment response

Objectives: Nowadays it is considered that protein kinase Akt1 could be involved in pathogenesis of affective disorders. We have examined whether AKT1 gene polymorphisms are associated with antidepressant treatment response. Methods: The study included 106 Caucasian patients with depressive disorders from Siberia and 103 healthy control donors. The frequencies of single nucleotide polymorphisms rs1130214 and rs3730358 of AKT1 gene were examined. Results: A comparison of genotypic or allelic frequencies between the groups of healthy donors and depressive patients showed no statistically significant difference. No association between the polymorphisms under study and the scores according to Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 17 was found. However, an association between treatment response assessed by the Clinical Global Impression – Improvement scale and rs1130214 polymorphism was observed. Conclusions: AKT1 gene polymorphism rs1130214 is associated with antidepressant treatment response in patients with depressive disorders.     

Effect of carnosine on immunocompetent cells from alcoholic patients

We studied the effect of natural dipeptide carnosine on phagocytosis, respiratory burst in neutrophils, and subpopulation composition of lymphocytes from healthy donors and alcoholic patients. Carnosinein vitro produced different effects on immunocompetent cells from healthy donors and patients with alcoholism. In patients with alcoholism phagocytic activity of leukocytes and generation of reaction oxygen species increased under the influence of carnosine in a concentration of 0.01 mM, but decreased after treatment with this compound in a concentration of 1 mM. Carnosine in both concentrations stimulated the respiratory burst, but had no effect on the count of phagocytic cells in healthy donors. Carnosine in a concentration of 0.01 mM increased the number of lymphocytes carrying apoptosis markers (CD95⁺) in patients with alcoholism not receiving therapy. Our results indicate that carnosine holds much promise for the therapy of alcoholism. Translated fromByulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 138, No. 9, pp. 289–292, September, 2004     

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and catalase activities in erythrocytes of schizophrenic patients under pharmacotherapy with traditional antipsychotics

We studied the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and catalase in erythrocytes of schizophrenia patients who were under pharmacotherapy with traditional antipsychotic drugs. Prior to therapy, we observed decreased activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and increased activity of catalase in patients compared to the control. After a 6-week therapy with antipsychotics of the first generation, catalase activity became normal, whereas the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase declined further.