bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Aspects of alpha‐2‐adrenoceptor function in normal volunteers
Authors: Nutt David J. , Glue Paul 
Published: December 2004

AbstractAn intravenous infusion of clonidine (1.5 m̈g/kg) was given to 22 healthy male volunteers to establish normal hormonal biochemical, cardiovascular and psychological responses. Control data were provided by 12 of these subjects who had additional saline infusions, and repeat clonidine infusions were carried out in six subjects to assess test–retest reliability. Clonidine infusion appears to be a safe, reproducible and acceptable means of assessing alpha‐2‐adrenoceptor function in man.
Effects of a subanaesthetic concentration of nitrous oxide on memory and subjective experience: Influence of assessment procedures and types of stimuli
Authors: Block Robert I. , Ghoneim M. M. , Hinrichs James V. , Kumar Viney , Pathak Dhirendra 
Published: December 2004

AbstractSubjects (16 men and 16 women) breathing 30 per cent nitrous oxide in oxygen, or 100 per cent oxygen, were tested to see if the effects of nitrous oxide on memory varied with different types of auditory stimuli and memory‐testing procedures. The drug produced substantial memory impairments. These impairments were milder in forced‐choice recognition than in yes/no recognition and for certain stimuli (first names of each subject's close relatives), but were not influenced by several other variations in test procedures and stimuli. Additional assessments indicated that nitrous oxide produced numerous subjective effects including some that are characteristic of psychedelic drugs. Subjective rating scales of the kind frequently used in drug studies revealed sedation but not the other mood effects.
Causes, effects and treatment of long‐term benzodiazepine use: A review of psychological perspectives
Authors: Golombok Susan 
Published: December 2004

AbstractPsychological mechanisms underlying addictive behaviour are described with particular reference to the role of learning and cognition in long‐term benzodiazepine use. The effects of long‐term tranquillizer use on cognitive functioning are then discussed, and it is suggested that the long‐term use of benzodiazepines is associated with impairment in two areas of cognitive functioning; visual‐spatial ability and the ability to sustain attention on a repetitive task under time pressure. Psychological approaches to the management of long‐term benzodiazepine users have focused on tailoring cognitive and behavioural therapeutic techniques to the needs of tranquillizer‐dependent patients. A follow‐up study of patients treated for benzodiazepine dependence is described. It is argued that a gradual withdrawal regimen alone is inadequate for permanent withdrawal for many patients, and that psychological adjuncts should be included in treatment to provide patients with alternative coping strategies.
Saturation analysis of specific 11C Ro 15‐1788 binding to the human neocortex using positron emission tomography
Authors: Persson Anders , Pauli Stefan , Halldin Christer , Stone‐Elander Sharon , Farde Lars , Sjögren Irene , Sedvall Göran 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe 11C‐labelled benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15–1788 (flumazenil) and positron emission tomography (PET) were used to determine quantitative characteristics of benzodiazepine receptor binding in the neocortex of healthy young men. Saturating doses of unlabelled flumazenil administered i.v., before or together with the ligand‐reduced 11C‐flumazenil accumulation in the neocortex by about 90 per cent. Saturating doses of unlabelled flumazenil had little effect on the accumulation of radioactivity in the benzodiazepine receptor‐poor regions such as pons or white matter. By giving graded doses of unlabelled flumazenil together with the tracer, saturation isotherms were obtained allowing the calculation of receptor density (Bmax) and equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) values on the basis of certain assumptions Bmax values were in the order of 90 pmol/g and Kd values in the order of 10 nM in the neocortex. Scatchard and Hill plots of the radioactivity data indicated that 11C‐flumazenil binds to saturable sites of a homogeneous population. The data indicate that intravenous doses of 1 or 2 mg flumazenil result in a benzodiazepine receptor occupancy of about 50 per cent. The method described should be useful for studying regional differences in benzodiazepine receptor characteristics in the living human brain in healthy subjects and neuropsychiatric disorders, and also in relation to treatment with drugs interacting with benzodiazepine receptors.
The dose effects of zopiclone
Authors: Lamphere James K. , Roehrs Timothy A. , Zorick Frank J. , Koshorek Gail , Roth Thomas 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe dose effects of zopiclone on sleep were studied in 12 subjects. Subjects who complained of insomnia and had their complaint verified by nocturnal polysomnography were included in the study. Four consecutive nights of adaptation and screening, while on placebo, were followed by six 3‐night drug administration periods separated by a 4‐day placebo washout period spent at home. Each of the subjects received placebo, 2·5, 5·0, 7·5, 10·0 or 15·0 mg of zopiclone administered in a double‐blind, randomized, six‐way Latin square design. Zopiclone at all doses significantly increased total sleep time and decreased latencies to sleep compared to placebo dose. Dose differences were found for total sleep time and wake during sleep with 5·0 mg and larger doses differing from 2·5 mg. No further improvement was produced by doses greater than 5·0 mg. Sleep staging effects changed in a dose‐dependent fashion with the 7·5 mg and higher doses significantly different from both placebo and the 2·5 mg dose. In general, hypnotic effects leveled off at the 5 mg dose while sleep stage effects increased with higher doses.
Clinical efficacy of 1‐desamino‐8‐d‐arginine‐vasopressin (DDAVP) in short‐term recovery from minor head injury
Authors: Filipová M. , Jung M. , Filip V. , Krejčová H. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe purpose of the study was to investigate whether 1‐desamino‐8‐D‐arginine‐vasopressin (DDAVP) has a positive effect on mental performance in patients recovering from minor head injury. Seventeen inpatients with simple closed‐head injury were included in the trial within 16–40 h after the accicent. DDAVP (Adiuretin SPOFA 10 m̈g) b.i.d. or placebo were administered intranasally for 4 days under double‐blind conditions. The test battery, consisting of several tests of memory and information processing, was administered at pretreatment and at the end of the trial. All patients completed the protocol, nine in the DDAVP group and eight in the placebo group. No adverse reactions to treatment were observed. In the first and second series of PASAT (an information processing test) and in the Story Memory (a test of verbal logical memory) DDAVP was significantly (p<0·05) superior to placebo according to t‐tests and/or ANCOVA with age as covariate. The results indicate a positive influence of DDAVP on information processing and short‐term verbal logical memory during recovery from minor head injury.
A pilot study of verapamil in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia
Authors: Dinan Timothy G. , Capstick Claire 
Published: December 2004

AbstractSix patients with severe and stable tardive dyskinesia were treated with verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, in doses ranging from 240 to 400 mg/day. Weekly assessments were made using the Simpson tardive dyskinesia rating scale. Neuroleptic medication was held constant during the 3‐month baseline assessment and during the month of treatment with verapamil. Four of the six patients showed a dramatic response to treatment and a fifth showed a slight improvement. The four good responders were younger and had the tardive dyskinesia for a shorter period of time.
Benzodiazepines and appetite: Recent pre‐clinical advances and their clinical implications
Authors: Cooper Steven J. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractSince their introduction in the early 1960s it has been known that benzodiazepines potently increase food intake in many animal species, including higher primates. Behavioural and pharmacological evidence shows that this hyperphagic effect of benzodiazepines is not secondary to their anxiolytic properties, and can also be dissociated from sedative and muscle‐relaxant effects. The hyperphagic response appears to be due to a direct effect on appetite mechanisms, and certainly arises from interactions of drugs with specific benzodiazepines recognition sites in the brain. The discovery of so‐called ‘inverse agonists’, which bind to benzodiazepine sites, has led to experiments which show that they reduce food consumption and can block benzodiazepine‐induced hyperphagia. The most recent research in this area shows that benzodiazepines enhance the hedonic quality of taste stimuli, and indicates that this may determine their effects on food preferences and food consumption. This evidence is reviewed in this article. Attention is also drawn to recent experimental work in patients with eating disorders; anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Both groups show heightened taste responsiveness to sweet, palatable taste. Further study of benzodiazepine effects on appetite should throw new light on neurochemical determinants of taste palatability. Inverse agonists acting at benzodiazepine receptors may provide examples of drugs which could be used to attenuate taste responsiveness to highly palatable foods.
The prescription of antidepressants in general practice: I a critical review
Authors: Thompson C. , Thompson C. M. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThis review critically examines the literature which is available on the way in which general practitioners use antidepressants, the kind of depressed patients who they choose to treat, and the trials of antidepressants which have specifically been carried out in general practice. General practitioners tend to use a ‘low‐dose strategy’ of prescribing tricylics (75 mgs or less per day), which are the most commonly used antidepressants.While this is a subtherapeutic dose in psychiatric hospital patients there is evidence that GP's patients are less serverely depressed, and the low‐dose strategy might be effective in such cases. A review of trials in general practice revealed only one study capable of addressing this question, which suggested a lack of efficacy of the low‐dose strategy.
Ethanol interactions with serotonin uptake selective and non‐selective antidepressants: Fluoxetine and amitriptyline
Authors: Shaw Carolyn A. , Sullivan John T. , Kadlec Karen E. , Kaplan Howard L. , Naranjo Claudio A. , Sellers Edward M. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractFluoxetine, unlike amitriptyline, selectively blocks serotonin uptake. The interactions of steady state levels of fluoxetine with ethanol and of amitriptyline with ethanol were measured in a double‐blind, chronic dose, randomized study. Sixteen healthy men, ages 21 to 28 years, were tested with placebo and ethanol (dosed to maintain blood ethanol concentration of 17–22 mM) and placebo and juice on two separate days. For 14 nights, 8 subjects took fluoxetine 40 mg, 8 took amitriptyline 50 mg, and all were re‐tested with ethanol and juice as before. Ethanol had no effect on inhibition of serotonin uptake or on pharmacokinetics of fluoxetine or amitriptyline. The deleterious effects of ethanol on memory, manual tracking, body sway, intoxication and sedation (p<0·05) were not modified by either fluoxetine or amitriptyline. This study design, which is sensitive enough to detect ethanol effects, suggests that ethanol dose not interact importantly with clinically relevant doses of fluoxetine or low doses of amitriptyline administered chronically.
Effects of prenatal neuroleptic drug exposure on motor performance in children
Authors: Platt Jane E. , Friedhoff Arnold J. , Broman Sarah H. , Bond Ronald , Laska Eugene , Lin Shang P. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractIn a previous study we showed that prenatal neuroleptic drug exposure has postnatal effects on children's growth (Platt et al., 1988). In the present study the effect of prenatal exposure to neuroleptic drugs on motor performance at birth, 8 months, 4 years and 7 years of age was examined in children of psychiatrically normal parents, and of parents with a history of psychiatric treatment, using‐data from the Collaborative Perinatal Project of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases, Communicative Disorders and Stroke. The majority of the analyses were done using multiple logistic regression to control for possible confounding factors and to derive risk ratios. Some negative effects on motor behaviour were present in all groups at birth, most noticeably in the group of children who had been exposed to dopamine (DA)‐depleting drugs. Negative effects were less prevalent at later ages, but were still present. The results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms and methodological limitations.
Pharmacotherapy in personality disorder
Authors: Nicholson Simon 
Published: December 2004

AbstractPersonality disorders pose a major therapeutic challenge in psychiatry. However, a substantial body of research suggests that various pharmacological agents, especially low‐dose neuroleptics, may be useful against affective, cognitive and behavioural symptoms occurring in these patients. It is proposed that a trial of drug treatment, in accordance with the principles outlined in the literature, is a valid strategy in this difficult area.
Acute effects of hydroxyzine on nocturnal sleep and sleep tendency the following day: A C‐EEG study
Authors: Alford C. , Rombaut N. , Jones J. , Foley S. , Idzikowski C. , Hindmarch I. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe acute hypnotic effects of hydroxyzine 25 mg and 50 mg nocte, were examined in six male and six female volunteers. Continuous electrophysiological measures (C‐EEG) were taken to assess both nocturnal sleep and sleep tendency the following day. Both doses produced significant reductions in sleep onset latency and decreases in waking during sleep; reciprocal increases in sleep duration were also seen. Female subjects demonstrated a greater hypnotic response, including a dose‐dependent decrease in sleep onset latency. Increases in sleep duration following both doses were significant for the female group alone. C‐EEG measures of increased drowsiness the following day failed to achieve significance; although the largest effects on daytime sleepiness, including dose‐dependent increases, were again seen with the female subject group and corresponded with subjective ratings. These results demonstrate the hypnotic efficacy of hydroxyzine whilst failing to detect significant C‐EEG hangover effects. However, variability in response to antihistamines, registered here as differences between the sexes, requires further consideration.
Effects of nitrous oxide on memory for instructions in dental patients
Authors: File S. E. , Balakrishnan J. , Murray A. , Harris A. , Skelly A. M. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractOutpatients attending for conservative dental treatment were presented with eight instructions which they were asked to remember. The instructions were either written or spoken, and were in a positive or negative form. Patients treated with nitrous oxide remembered fewer instructions than those treated with local analgesia alone, and this effect of nitrous oxide was particularly marked for written instructions. Patients receiving local analgesia alone were more likely to remember positive than negative instructions in their original syntactical form, but this bias was not evident in the nitrous oxide group. In a second experiment both normal and dentally phobic patients were read dental and general instructions both before and during inhalation of 30 per cent nitrous oxide. Both groups showed a nitrous oxide‐induced reduction in partially recalled instructions. There was interesting evidence for a different attentional bias in our two patient groups. The normal group remembered more general than dental instructions, whereas the phobic group showed the opposite pattern, yielding a significant patient group × type of instruction interaction.
Ligand metabolites in plasma during PET‐studies with the 11C‐labelled dopamine antagonists, raclopride, SCH 23390 and N‐methylspiroperidol
Authors: Swahn Carl‐Gunnar , Farde Lars , Halldin Christer , Sedvall Göoran 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThe 11C‐labelled radioligands raclopride, SCH 23390 and N‐methyl‐spiroperidol are well established for examination of central dopamine receptors by positron emission tomography (PET).Thin layer chromatography was used to examine the composition of radioactivity in plasma after intravenous injection of any of these three ligands into human subjects. For all three ligands there was a considerable metabolism during the time of a PET‐experiment but to a different degree. Forty‐two minutes after injection (11C)raclopride was unchanged to 76 per cent, (11C)N‐methylspiroperidol to 57 per cent and (11C) SCH 23390 only to 13 per cent.A time curve for ligand metabolism is necessary for compartmental analysis with an arterial input function. The considerable ligand metabolism demonstrated shortly after i.v. injection motivates further the identification of main metabolites to evaluate if they pass the blood‐brain barrier and bind to the receptors.
Clomipramine/bentazepam combination in the treatment of major depressive disorders
Authors: Ordóñez A. Calcedo , Arosamene X. , Pérez F. J. Otero , Herrero C. Hernández , García A. , Moral L. , Baeza F. , Benitez J. Fernández , Velasco J. , Garrido J. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractEighty‐three patients were recruited in a multicentre study concerning the usefulness of benzodiazepines (BZ) in major depressive disorders, diagnosed according to the DSM‐III‐R criteria. After 1 week wash‐out, patients were randomized to clomipramine (CLMP) or CLMP plus bentazepam (BTZ) treatments (47 and 36 patients respectively). It was necessary to add hypnotics, usually a BZ, in 11 patients in the CLMP group and in one patient in the CLMP + BTZ group. The clinical improvement was faster in the group treated with CLMP + BTZ and, at the end of 6 weeks of treatment, the mean score in Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAS) was lower than the one found in the group treated with CLMP. There were no significant differences found in Hamilton Depression Scale (HDS) between the groups. The side‐effects observed were those due to CLMP, and only drowsiness was more frequent in the CLMP+BTZ group. However, the CLMP+BTZ combination was equally or better tolerated by patients than by those treated with CLMP alone. Similar results were found in hospitalized as well as in outpatients. The tricyclic antidepressant (TCA)/BZ association showed better results than TCA alone, producing a symptomatic improvement extensive to the anxious components of depression.
Reliability and sensitivity of performance tests in human psychopharmacology. A commentary on the articles by parrott (1991), human psychopharmacology, 6, 1–9, 91–98, 197–207
Authors: Tiplady Brian 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThis commentary argues that the conventional assessment of the reliability of psychological tests may be inappropriate in psychopharmacology. The conventional approach depends upon the assessment of differences between individuals rather than changes within individuals. It thus favours measures of trait, while those required for investigating drug‐induced changes are measures of state. The sensitivity of a measure to change is a more useful criterion for inclusion in a test battery for the investigation of the effects of drugs.
The effect of caffeine use on a visual information processing task
Authors: Loke Wing Hong , Goh Winston D. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractPast caffeine studies have shown that differences in task performance may be due to differences in habitual caffeine consumption levels of individuals. No study has yet investigated this caffeine user effect alone without confounding it with the administration of caffeine. The present study used a visual search/detection task to test whether high caffeine users have an enhanced resource capacity and therefore show higher baseline performance than low and moderate caffeine users. A three‐way interaction between caffeine user (low, moderate, and high caffeine user), automaticity (automatic and non‐automatic), and task difficulty (low and high) was predicted, with user effect significant for the non‐automatic portion of the task. The three‐way interaction was not significant, suggesting that user effect is not dependent on resource capacity. Several interpretations, based on theoretical, empirical, methodological, and statistical viewpoints, are discussed as to the non‐significant caffeine user effect.
Effects of scopolamine on immediate postural changes in heart rate and R—R variance in humans
Authors: Yeragani Vikram K. , Pohl Robert , Balon Richard , Ramesh C. , Berchou Richard 
Published: December 2004

AbstractTo examine the anticholinergic effects of scopolamine, postural tests were performed in nine healthy male volunteers after they received intravenous infusions of 0.2mg of scopolamine, 0.4 mg of glycopyrrolate, or placebo on separate days under double‐blind randomized conditions. Compared to the placebo and glycopyrrolate conditions, scopolamine produced a significantly exaggerated HR response to standing from supine posture. Scopolamine also produced a significant increase in R‐R variance during supine deep breathing and standing conditions as compared to glycopyrrolate and placebo conditions. At the same time, scopolamine also produced a significant dry mouth. These findings suggest that the effects of scopolamine in low doses on the above cardiac variables are vagomimetic.
Treatment of neuroleptic malignant syndrome with levodopa
Authors: Otani K. , Mihara K. , Kondo T. , Okada M. , Kaneko S. , Fukushima Y. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractSeven consecutive episodes of neuroleptic malignant syndrome in five cases were treated with 50–600 mg/day (mean 342 mg/day) of levodopa. In four episodes active pharmacological treatment was initiated with levodopa, while in the remaining three episodes it was introduced because of poor therapeutic response to dantrolene. Levodopa treatment brought complete recoveries in six out of the seven episodes. In the remaining episode, levodopa appeared to be at least partially effective, although it had to be discontinued prematurely because of vomiting. As complications of levodopa, psychotic symptoms developed in one case. The present report suggests that levodopa can be a first choice in the pharmacological treatment of neuroleptic malignant syndrome, although attention should be paid to the development of vomiting and psychotic symptoms as possible complications. It also supports the view that central hypodopaminergic states are the underlying pathophysiology in this syndrome.
Neuroleptic discontinuation in the very stable schizophrenic patient: Relapse rates and serum neuroleptic levels
Authors: Sampath G. , Shah A. , Krska J. , Soni S. D. 
Published: December 2004

AbstractThis double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study investigated the effect of discontinuation of maintenance neuroleptic medication in chronic, long‐stay schizophrenic patients who had been clinically stable for over 5 years. After 12 months, 75 per cent of the patients on placebo had relapsed as compared to 33 per cent on active medication and relapses in the placebo group occurred significantly earlier during the study; survival analysis revealed the differences to be statistically significant. No clear predictors of relapse could be identified, although patients who relapsed from either group were more likely to have had higher scores for anxiety symptoms and a lower serum prolactin level at baseline. It was concluded that even in older patients who have been chronically ill with prominent negative symptoms and living in a relatively undemanding environment on stable doses of neuroleptics, the risk of relapse remains unacceptably high after abrupt withdrawal of maintenance neuroleptic therapy.