Early onset schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a chronic psychiatric disorder whose onset of symptoms occurs in late adolescence and early adulthood. The etiology is complex and involves important gene-environment interactions. Microarray gene-expression studies on SZ have identified alterations in several biological processes. The heterogeneity in the results can be attributed to the use of different sample types and other important confounding factors including age, illness chronicity and antipsychotic exposure. The aim of the present microarray study was to analyze, for the first time to our knowledge, differences in gene expression profiles in 18 fibroblast (FCLs) and 14 lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients and healthy controls...

BACKGROUND: Few longitudinal studies have investigated the functional outcomes of individuals with recent-onset psychotic illness in low- and middle-income countries. AIMS: To investigate short-term functional remission and its predictors in a central Vietnamese sample. METHODS: A naturalistic 6-month prospective cohort study recruited 79 patients of public health facilities who had experienced a first episode of schizophrenia or related illness in the past 18 months...

Early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) is a severe mental illness associated with dysconnectivity that widespread in the brain. However, the functional dysconnectivity in EOS are still mixed. Recently, studies have identified that functional connectivity (FC) arises from a band-limited slow rhythmic mechanism and suggested that the dysconnectivity at specific frequency bands may provide more robust biomarkers for schizophrenia. The frequency-specific changes of FC pattern in EOS remain unclear. To address this issue, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data scans from 39 EOS patients (drug-naive) and 31 healthy controls (HCs) were used to assess the FC density (FCD) across slow-4 (0...

OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders often have their onset in adolescence. The sequelae of these illnesses can negatively alter the trajectory of emotional, cognitive, and social development in children and youth if left untreated. Early and appropriate interventions can improve outcomes. This article aims to identify best practices in the pharmacotherapy management of children and youth with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted for published guidelines for schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders in children and youth (under age 18 years)...

Despite the growing interest in a dimensional approach to the assessment of symptoms and clinically relevant phenomena in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, very few studies, to date, have examined the dimensional structure of symptoms in early onset first episode psychosis. In the present study, we assessed a sample of 60 children and adolescents of both sexes with first episode schizophrenia spectrum psychosis. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was performed and the factors obtained were used to carry out a cluster analysis...

Epigenetic influences mediating brain iron deposition, oxidative mitochondrial injury, and macroautophagy in Parkinson disease and related conditions remain enigmatic. Here, we show that selective overexpression of the stress protein, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in astrocytes of GFAP.HMOX1 transgenic mice between 8.5 and 19 months of age results in nigrostriatal hypodopaminergia associated with locomotor incoordination and stereotypy; downregulation of tyrosine hydroxylase, DAT, LMX1B, Nurr1, Pitx3 and DJ-1 mRNA and/or protein; overproduction of α-synuclein and ubiquitin; oxidative stress; basal ganglia siderosis; mitochondrial damage/mitophagy; and augmented GABAergic systems (increased GABA, GAD67 and reelin)...

An earlier age at onset (AAO) has been associated with greater genetic loadings in schizophrenia. This study aimed to identify modifier loci associated with an earlier AAO of schizophrenia. A genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) was conducted in 94 schizophrenia probands with the earliest AAO and 91 with the latest AAO. Candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were then genotyped in the co-affected siblings and unrelated probands. Multi-SNP genetic risk scores (GRS) composed of the candidate loci were used to distinguish patients with an early or late AAO...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine whether the rate of clozapine use, an indicator of refractoriness in schizophrenia, is associated with the season of birth and age at onset in patients with schizophrenia based on nationwide data. METHODS: Patients with schizophrenia (n = 114 749) who received prescriptions for antipsychotic medication between 2008 and 2014 were retrospectively identified from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. The study population was divided into three groups based on their age at the onset of schizophrenia (early, middle, and late onset)...

Increasing evidence shows that cognitive impairment and brain abnormalities can appear early in the first episodes of schizophrenia, but it is currently debated how brain changes can correlate with clinical presentation of schizophrenic patients. Of note, this report describes the case of a young schizophrenic male presenting parietal magnetic resonance/positron emission tomography abnormalities and cognitive impairment, documented by specific neuropsychological tests. In our knowledge only few studies have investigated if neuropsychological abnormalities could be concomitant with both structural and functional neuroimaging...

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are developmental disorders with shared clinical characteristics such as cognitive impairments and impulsivity. Impulsivity is a core feature of ADHD and an important factor in aggression, violence, and substance use in schizophrenia. Based on the hypothesis that schizophrenia and ADHD represent a continuum of neurodevelopmental impairments, the aim was to identify overlapping and disease specific forms of impulsivity...

This study aims to examine regional gray matter (GM) changes over a period of 2 years in patients diagnosed with early-onset first-episode psychosis (EO-FEP), and to identify baseline predictors of abnormalities at the follow-up. Fifty-nine patients with EO-FEP aged 11-17 years were assessed. Magnetic resonance imaging was carried out at admission and 2 years later. Changes over time were assessed with voxel-based morphometry. Fifty-nine patients (34 schizophrenia-SCZ, 15 bipolar disorder-BP, and 10 other psychotic disorders) and 70 healthy controls were assessed...

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that drugs which promote the N-Methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptor function by stimulating the glycine modulatory site in the receptor improve negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia patients being treated with antipsychotic drugs. METHODS: We performed a placebo-controlled double-blind crossover study involving 41 schizophrenia patients in which D-cycloserine 50 mg/day was added-on, and the influence of the onset age and association with white matter integrity on MR diffusion tensor imaging were investigated for the first time...

BACKGROUND: The genesis of schizophrenia is multifactorial, including biological and environmental risk factors. We tested for an interactive effect between early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) and social class of origins (socioeconomic status (SES)). Data were further analyzed for a possible connection to type of schizophrenic symptoms. Sampling/Methods: Data for the study are taken from the medical records of 642 patients from a large state hospital in the northeastern United States. Clinical assessments were divided into positive and negative symptomatology through application of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)...

This article is an overview of the literature on Asperger's syndrome and schizophrenia and aim to discuss their similarities and differences. Eugen Bleuler who associated the terms "schizophrenia" and "autism" a century ago, viewed autism as a form of solitude of schizophrenic patients representing withdrawal from reality. Ever since, there has been confusion as to the boundaries between these conditions. Nowadays recent research, from a variety of perspectives-genomics, neurodevelopment, psychiatry, etc. has given new information on these conditions...

Schizophrenia is a devastating neuropsychiatric disorder affecting approximately 1% of the global population, and the disease has imposed a considerable burden on families and society. Although, the exact cause of schizophrenia remains unknown, several lines of scientific evidence have revealed that genetic variants are strongly correlated with the development and early onset of the disease. In fact, the heritability among patients suffering from schizophrenia is as high as 80%. Genomic copy number variations (CNVs) are one of the main forms of genomic variations, ubiquitously occurring in the human genome...

OBJECTIVES: This study uses longitudinal data from a sample of older adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (OAS) to examine the role of cognition in 3 models of aging and schizophrenia-accelerated aging, paradoxical aging, and heterogeneity of course-and their clinical relevance. METHODS: The sample consisted of 103 community-dwelling persons aged 55 and over (mean=61years) with early-onset schizophrenia. Mean follow-up was 52.5months (range: 12-116months); 55% were men; 55% were white...

Old age is a vulnerable period of life for either the apparition or the exacerbation of psychiatric disorders. Among others, psychoses are relatively frequent in the elderly. Alas diagnoses of non-organic psychoses are still matters of debate, namely because of the important variability of symptoms and the lack of data in the elderly population. DSM-5 adds only little precision to this nosographic issue. These questions are however important in practice, since they influence prognostic aspects and treatment choices...

BACKGROUND: Although people with schizophrenia (PSZ) frequently exhibit reduced working memory capacity relative to healthy comparison subjects (HCS), the mechanisms that underlie this impairment are not yet known. The present study aimed to assess one putative mechanism: impaired suppression of alpha and beta frequency bands during the delay period of a visual working memory task. METHODS: The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from 30 PSZ and 31 HCS while they completed a change detection task in which they were required to remember a briefly presented array of colored squares over an 1800-ms delay interval...

Patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) display a broad range of metabolic risk factors related to the development of diverse medical comorbidities. Initial stages of these disorders are essential in understanding the increased vulnerability of developing cardiometabolic disturbances, associated with a reduced life expectancy. This study aimed to evaluate the metabolic profile of a cohort of patients with a FEP and its evolution during a two year follow-up, as well as the factors that influence the changes in their metabolic status...

BACKGROUND: Elevated prolactin levels (hyperprolactinemia) are a frequent adverse effect of antipsychotic medications, especially in young populations. Prolonged hyperprolactinemia may affect sexual functioning and the onset and progression of puberty. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed potentially prolactin-related treatment-emergent adverse events (PPRL-TEAEs) and sexual maturation during long-term treatment of adolescents with paliperidone extended-release (ER). METHODS: This post hoc analysis of a 2-year open-label multicenter study (NCT00488319) included patients of either sex aged 12-17 years at study enrollment, diagnosed with schizophrenia (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition [DSM-IV]) for ≥1 year, who had received one or more adequate antipsychotic treatment prior to enrollment but had not responded sufficiently...