Negative Scale Scores Research Articles

Predictive model using autism diagnostic observation schedule, second edition for differential diagnosis between schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundAlthough schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are currently conceptualized as distinct disorders, the similarity in their symptoms often makes differential diagnosis difficult. This study aimed to identify similarities and differences in the symptoms of schizophrenia and ASD to establish a more useful and objective differential diagnostic method and to identify ASD traits in participants with schizophrenia.MethodsA total of 40 participants with schizophrenia (13 females, mean age: 34 ± 11 years) and 50 participants with ASD (15 females, mean age: 34 ± 8 years) were evaluated using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) and other clinical measures.ResultsADOS-2 Module 4 original and revised algorithms did not significantly discriminate schizophrenia and ASD, whereas the “Predictive Model” combining the A7, A10, B1, B6, B8, and B9 showed superior accuracy in differentiating both disorders. Both algorithms in the ADOS-2 had high schizophrenia false-positive rates, and significant positive correlations were observed between all domains and the total scores of both algorithms in the ADOS-2 and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) negative scale scores in the schizophrenia group. The PANSS negative-scale scores were significantly higher in patients positive for autism spectrum cut-offs (CutOff-POS) than in patients negative for autism spectrum cut-offs (CutOff-NEG) for both algorithms in the ADOS-2. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the positivity for both algorithm scales in the ADOS-2 was predicted using only the PANSS negative scale scores.ConclusionsThis study showed that a combination of several items in the ADOS-2 is useful for discriminating between ASD and schizophrenia. The study’s findings could help develop strategies benefiting ASD and schizophrenia treatments.

Snyder Hopes the Effect of Theoretical Nursing Combined with Adaptive Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategy on Cirrhotic Patients with Esophageal Variceal Bleeding

Explore the effect of Snyder hope theory nursing combined with adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategy on hope level, psychological elasticity, response and negative emotion regulation ability of cirrhotic patients with esophagogastric variceal bleeding. 120 patients with liver cirrhosis with esophagogastric variceal bleeding from January to December 2023 were randomly divided into observation group (n = 60) and control group (n = 60). The control group was given the strategy of adaptive cognitive emotion regulation. The observation group was given hope theory nursing combined with adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategy. After nursing, the scores of Herth hope scale (C-HHI), psychological resilience scale (CD-RISC), face dimension, avoidance and surrender in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05, 0.05). The scores of negative emotion regulation scale (NMR-S) in the observation group were higher than those in the control group. Snyder hopes that theoretical nursing combined with adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategy can improve the hope level of cirrhotic patients with esophagogastric variceal bleeding, improve their psychological resilience and coping style, and improve their negative emotion regulation ability.

The economic burden of schizophrenia spectrum disorders: clinical and functional correlates and predictors of direct costs. A retrospective longitudinal study

The economic burden of schizophrenia amounts for 1.5-3 % of healthcare expenses in developed countries, and ∼50 % derives from direct costs: 81 % of these are due to hospitalization, residential facilities and semi-residential facilities. Therefore, a better characterization of variables that influence direct costs represents a relevant issue.A total of 276 individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders receiving treatment from the Community Mental Health Centers of Brescia (Italy) were included in the study: for each participant socio-demographic, clinical and functional characteristics were assessed, and data related to the use of services in 2022 (then converted to costs) were collected. Regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of costs.A direct healthcare expenditure of 16477.23 (±32856.47) € per patient per year was identified. The main cost predictor was the PSP total score (p=0.005), followed by age of onset (p=0.020), and PANSS total score (p=0.033). Including PANSS sub-scales scores and PSP single items as potential predictors, the main predictor was the “socially useful activities” PSP item (p=0.002), followed by age of onset (p=0.011), and PANSS negative scale score (p=0.027).Our findings underline the need to implement rehabilitative intervention focused on the improvement of psychosocial functioning and negative symptoms, also to reduce healthcare expenses.

Peripersonal Space Plasticity in Relation to Psychopathology and Anomalous Subjective Experiences in Individuals With Early-Onset and Adult-Onset Schizophrenia.

Individuals with schizophrenia present anomalies in the extension and plasticity of the peripersonal space (PPS), the section of space surrounding the body, shaped through motor experiences. A weak multisensory integration in PPS would contribute to an impairment of self-embodiment processing, a core feature of the disorder linked to specific subjective experiences. In this exploratory study, we aimed at: (1) testing an association between PPS features, psychopathology, and subjective experiences in schizophrenia; (2) describing the PPS profile in individuals with early-onset schizophrenia. Twenty-seven individuals with schizophrenia underwent a task measuring the PPS size and boundaries demarcation before and after a motor training with a tool. The Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Examination of Anomalous Self Experience scale (EASE) and the Autism Rating Scale (ARS) were used to assess psychopathology. Subsequently, participants were divided into two subgroups, early and adult-onset schizophrenia. The two groups were compared in regard to their PPS and psychopathological profiles. PPS patterns were associated with psychopathology, particularly positively with PANSS negative scale score, and negatively with subjective experiences of existential reorientation (EASE Domain 5 scores) and of social encounters (ARS scores). Only PPS parameters and ARS scores differentiated between early and adult-onset participants. Our results, although preliminary and exploratory, can suggest a link between PPS patterns, negative symptoms, and disturbances of the subjective experience, particularly in the intersubjective domain, in schizophrenia. Moreover, they seem to suggest that specific PPS profiles and schizophrenic autism traits could be markers of early-onset schizophrenia.

Emotions reflected in colours: experiences of nursing students during the COVID-19 period

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to identify nursing students’ fears and emotions and to concretise the metaphors they used to describe their feelings towards the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis study was conducted with nursing students at a foundation university between December 2021 and February 2022 using a sequential mixed methods research design. In the quantitative part of the study, 323 nursing students answered the ‘Positive and Negative Emotion Scale’ and the ‘COVID-19 Fear Scale’. In the qualitative part, students were asked to metaphorise COVID-19 with a colour and 21 in-depth interviews were conducted on the reasons for choosing this colour.ResultsThe average age of the students participating in the study was 21.41 ± 1.97 years and 78% of them were female. It was observed that 15.8 of the students had previously tested positive for COVID-19. Most of the participants (98.5%) were vaccinated against COVID-19 and 31.9% had a relative who died due to COVID-19. When the participants were asked which colour they compared COVID-19 to, it was observed that more than half of them chose red (51.4%) among bright colours and 13% chose black among dark colours. In this study, it was determined that students who chose dark colours to describe COVID-19 had higher COVID-19 Fear and Negative Emotion Scale scores. In in-depth interviews, it was observed that students who chose dark colours were more deeply affected by the COVID-19 process, while students who chose light colours associated this period with negative emotions.ConclusionIn this study, it was observed that nursing students’ feelings and thoughts about the COVID-19 period in line with their experiences affect the choice of colour in metaphorisation.

Aberrant brain functional connectivity mediates the effects of negative symptoms on cognitive function in schizophrenia: A structural equation model

BackgroundSchizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder, characterized by positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive deficits. Elucidating the mechanism of negative symptom and cognitive deficits could contribute to the treatment and prognosis of schizophrenia. We hypothesized that abnormal functional connectivity would be involved in the indirect effects of negative symptoms on cognitive function. MethodsA total of 150 schizophrenia male patients and 108 healthy controls matched for age, education and gender were enrolled in the study. The scores of Brief Negative Symptom Scale were divided into two factors: motivation and pleasure deficits (MAP) and diminished expression (EXP). Subsequently, a series of classic neurocognitive tests were used to evaluate cognitive functions. Resting-state fMRI data was collected from all participants. The Anatomical Automatic Labeling template was employed to establish regions of interest, thereby constructing the functional connectivity network across the entire brain. Eventually, scores of patients' negative symptoms scale, cognitive function, and strengths of abnormal functional connectivity were incorporated into a structural equation model to explore the interactions among variables. ResultsMAP exhibited a distinctly and significantly negative impact on cognitive function. The functional connectivity between the left insula and left precuneus, along with that between the left precuneus and right angular gyrus, collectively served as intermediaries, contributing to the indirect effects of MAP and EXP on cognitive function. ConclusionsOur findings demonstrated the moderating role of aberrant brain functional connectivity between negative symptoms and cognitive function, providing clues about the neural correlates of negative symptoms and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

Attitude of Medical and Dental Undergraduate Students Towards Learning of Communication Skills at a Medical College: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Proper physician-patient communication has shown to impact patients' satisfaction, and better health outcomes. On the contrary, negative impacts of poor communication have been attributed as one of the causes of increasing workplace violence. It is imperative to identify the attitude of the students towards communication skill learning. The aim of the study was to find out the attitude of undergraduate students towards communication skill learning using the communication skill attitude scale. This cross-sectional study was carried out from October, 2022 to July 2023 among undergraduate medical and dental students. Data was collected after obtaining the ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee (IRC number 2079/80/82) using a preformed proforma and the previously validated communication skills attitude scale questionnaire. Convenience sampling was done. The demographic details, educational characteristics, opinions regarding communication learning and median of positive and negative attitude scale scores were calculated using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The total median (interquartile range) positive attitudes scale (PAS) and negative attitudes scale (NAS) scores were 52.00 (48.00-87.00) and 31.00 (28.00-34.00) respectively. The first year of undergraduates had higher PAS scores 56.00 (50.00-60.00) than final year 48.50 (44.25-55.00). The students who were in favour of CS learning during the clinical years of training had a higher PAS median score, 54.00 (49.00-58.00). The undergraduates had overall positive attitude towards CS learning but negative attitudes were also noted, with deterioration in the scores from first to final year of undergraduation, reiterating the importance of strengthening CS learning in the curriculum early-on in the study period.

The Identification of High School Students' Attitudes Towards Ageism and Related Factors

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of students towards the elderly and the associated factors. Material and Methods: The population of this cross-sectional study consisted of 660 students attending a high school in Konya during the 2021-2022 academic year. No sampling procedure was conducted. The dependent variable in the study is the attitude towards the elderly, determined using the Positive and Negative Ageism Scale. The independent variables consist of socio-demographic characteristics and experiences related to the elderly. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using the Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis Analysis of Variance. Results: A total of 509 students participated in the study. The mean Positive and Negative Ageism Scale scores of the students were found to be 44.3±6.7 and 36.6±5.9, respectively. The Positive and Negative Ageism Scale scores were found to be significantly higher among students involved in projects related to elderly health (p=0.034, p=0.049), those who intend to live with their parents (p=0.010, p

Impact of Delusions and Hallucinations on Clinical Insight Dimensions in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Introduction: Insight in psychosis has been conceptualized as a continuous, dynamic, and multidimensional phenomenon. This study aims to determine the impact of delusions and hallucinations in different dimensions of clinical insight in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Methods: Cross-sectional multicenter study including 516 patients (336 men) diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Based on dichotomized scores of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) items P1 (delusions) and P3 (hallucinations), patients were assigned to four groups according to current clear presence of delusions (scores 4 or above 4 in PANSS item P1) and/or hallucinations (scores 4 or above 4 in PANNS item P3). Insight was assessed using the three main dimensions of the Scale of Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD). Results: Around 40% of patients showed unawareness of illness; 30% unawareness of the need for treatment; and 45% unawareness of the social consequences of the disorder. Patients with current clear presence of delusions had higher overall lack of awareness, regardless of current clear presence of hallucinations. Similarly, the clear presence of delusions showed a greater predictive value on insight than the presence of hallucinations, although the implication of both in the prediction was modest. Conclusions: Our results confirm that lack of insight is highly prevalent in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, particularly when patients experience delusions. This study adds insight-related data to the growing symptom-based research, where specific types of psychotic experiences such as hallucinations and delusions could form different psychopathological patterns, linking the phenomenology of delusions to a lack of clinical insight.

Cultural Sensitivity of a Group of Nursing Students' and Attitudes Toward Refugees.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitude of nursing students in providing health care to refugees due to cultural differences and to reveal individual factors (age, gender, marital status) affecting negative attitudes. This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study was conducted to determine the intercultural competence of nursing students and their attitudes toward immigrants in Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of 316 nursing students. The Negative Attitude Toward Immigrants Scale scores of the participants were high, however, the intercultural competence level of the health professionals was positive. A weak negative statistically significant relationship was found the Negative Attitude Toward Immigrants Scale and the Cross-Cultural Competence of Healthcare Professionals Scale (r = -.247, p = .000). Our study revealed that nursing students have negative attitudes toward immigrants, and factors such as gender and caring for patients from a different ethnic origin, discomfort in providing care impacted their attitudes.

Efficacy and acceptability of adjunctive n-acetylcysteine for psychotic disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) augmentation of antipsychotic medication has been studied in psychotic disorders but the results are inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of NAC as an augmentation strategy for psychotic disorders. PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched until the date of November 28, 2022. The inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing NAC and placebo in patients with psychotic disorders. The outcomes were the psychotic symptoms measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and drop-out rates. A total of 594 patients from eight trials were included. The results showed that no difference was found in score changes of PANSS total, positive, negative, or general psychopathology scale scores between the NAC group and placebo group in both time points (≤24weeks and >24weeks). There was also no statistical difference in drop-out rates between the two groups. For the moment, it is not appropriate to recommend NAC as an augmentation of antipsychotic medication to treat psychotic disorders in routine clinical practice.

Abnormal changes of static and dynamic functional connectivity of dopaminergic midbrain in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and their correlations with clinical symptoms

Objective: To investigate the abnormal changes of static functional connectivity (sFC) and dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) in the dopaminergic midbrain (ventral dorsal tegmental area and bilateral substantia nigra compacta, VTA/SNc) in patients with first-episode schizophrenia(SCH), and their correlation with the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS). Methods: The data of 198 first-episode untreated schizophrenia patients and 199 healthy controls (HC) matched by age, sex and years of education who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2019 to May 2022 were prospectively collected. All subjects underwent high resolution structural MRI and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning. The dopaminergic midbrain (VTA/SNc) was defined as three regions of interest (ROI). The sFC and dFC analyses with VTA/SNc as seeds were performed to produce a whole-brain diagram initially, which subsequently were compared between schizophrenia group and HC group. Finally, the correlation analysis of sFC and dFC values with the PANSS scores were performed, including the positive scale score, negative scale score, general psychopathology scale score, total score and symptom scores. Results: There were 86 males and 112 females in SCH group, and aged (23±9) years. Meanwhile, there were 95 males and 104 females in HC group, and aged (22±5) years. In the SCH group, the positive (P), the negative (N) and the general psychopathology (G) scale scores and the total score (T) of the PANSS scale was 20±7, 21±7, 41±11 and 82±22, respectively. Compared with the HC group, the VTA showed decreased sFC with four clusters including cerebellar vermis 7/9, left putamen, right thalamus and left middle cingulate gyrus in the schizophrenia group (peak center, t=-4.35, -4.81, -4.35 and -4.65; voxel P<0.005; cluster P<0.05), the right SNc showed decreased sFC with four clusters including left cerebellar hemisphere 4/5/8, right putamen, right medial orbitofrontal gyrus and the left putamen in the schizophrenia group (peak center, t=-4.91, -5.15, -4.77 and -5.21; voxel P<0.005; cluster P<0.05), and the left SNc showed decreased sFC with four clusters including the left putamen, right putamen, right medial orbitofrontal gyrus and left middle cingulate gyrus in the schizophrenia group (peak center, t=-5.82, -4.83 and -4.65; voxel P<0.005; cluster P<0.05). Compared with the HC group, the VTA showed decreased dFC with the right inferior parietal gyrus, right angular gyrus and right superior parietal gyrus in schizophrenia group (t=-4.17). In the schizophrenia group, the sFC value of cluster 2 (left putamen) with VTA as seed and cluster 4 (left putamen) with right SNc as seed were positively correlated with the positive scale scores in PANSS (r=0.141, 0.169, both P<0.05). The sFC and dFC values of significant regions were also correlated with hallucination, delusion, suspicion, hostility, communication disorder, passivity/indifference, lack of communication, stereotyped thinking, depression, non-cooperation, lack of judgment and insight, impulse control disorder, active social avoidance (all P<0.05). Conclusion: The static and dynamic functional connectivity (stability) of VTA/SNc to cerebellum, thalamus, striatum, prefrontal lobe and cingulate gyrus in first-episode schizophrenia patients were decreased, which were closely related to the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Nursing Students' Fear of Negative Evaluation and Perceptions of Clinical Decision-Making.

Nursing is a profession based on theoretical knowledge and practice, and the clinical decision-making process is important. Many factors affect the fear of negative evaluation, and fear of a negative evaluation is a potential variable that can affect clinical decision-making. This descriptive cross-sectional study included undergraduate nursing students (n = 283). Nursing students' fear of a negative evaluation and clinical decision-making scale scores were 31.92 ± 08.51 and 149.18 ± 13.67, respectively. No significant relationship was identified between the scores (p > .05). The fear of a negative evaluation was not associated with nursing students' perceptions of clinical decision-making. To reduce nursing students' fear of a negative evaluation and improve their clinical decision-making ability, appropriate training programs should be developed and implemented by nursing educators and administrators. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(6):325-331.].

Frequency-Specific Alterations of Spontaneous Brain Activity in First-Episode Drug-Naïve Schizophrenia

To investigate frequency-specific alterations of spontaneous brain activity in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia (SZ) patients and the associations with clinical symptoms. We collected the resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) data from 84 first-episode drug-naïve SZ patients and 94 healthy controls (HCs) and calculated the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) of four frequency bands, including slow-2, slow-3, slow-4, and slow-5. Two-sample t-tests were used to evaluate the intergroup differences in ALFF and ReHo, while partial correlation analyses were conducted to explore the associations between abnormal ALFF and ReHo and the severity of clinical symptoms in the SZ group. Compared with HCs, the SZ group showed reduced ALFF in superior cerebellum and cerebellar vermis across slow-2, slow-3, and slow-4 bands, while increased ALFF was found in left superior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and superior temporal pole at slow-4 band. Moreover, reduced ReHo was observed in the right precentral and postcentral gyri at slow-3 band in the SZ group. Additionally, the ALFF of left superior temporal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and superior temporal pole in slow-4 band showed a trend of positive correlation with the excited factor score of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in the SZ group. Our results suggest that local alterations of spontaneous brain activity were frequency-specific in first-episode drug-naïve SZ patients.

Anatomic Abnormalities of Hippocampal Subfields in First-Episode Drug-Naïve Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder: A Structural MRI Comparative Study

To compare the structural changes along the longitudinal axis of hippocampus subfields between schizophrenia (SCZ) patients and major depressive disorder (MDD) patients in the early stage of their SCZ and MDD. Seventy-nine first-episode drug-naïve patients with SCZ, 48 first-episode drug-naïve patients with MDD, and 79 healthy controls (HC) were recruited and underwent assessment of clinical symptoms and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head. Following the calculation of hippocampal and subfield volumes with FreeSurfer, the volume of longitudinal subfields were summed up. Inter-group comparison of these indicators was made with the data of different groups and the correlation between clinical symptoms and the volumes of longitudinal subfields was analyzed. Compared with HC, SCZ patients had smaller bilateral posterior hippocampus (left: t=－2.69, P=0.01; right: t=－2.90, P=0.004), while MDD patients exhibited no changes along the longitudinal axis of hippocampal subfields. In SCZ patients, the volume of bilateral posterior hippocampus was negatively correlated with the negative symptom scores of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (left: r=－0.29, P=0.01; right: r=－0.23, P=0.04). The smaller posterior hippocampus may be an imaging feature for distinguishing SCZ from MDD and may have contributed to the neuropathophysiological mechanism of SCZ in the early stage of the onset of the disease.

Study on the Correlation between Psychological Defense Mechanism and Clinical Features in First-Episode Schizophrenia

Objective: To analyze the correlation between psychological defense mechanism and clinical features in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Methods: During the period from June 2022 to 2023, a total of 120 patients with first-episode schizophrenia admitted to our hospital were selected as the observation group, and 120 healthy patients were selected as the control group. The correlation between psychological defense mechanism and clinical characteristics of first-episode schizophrenia patients was compared.Result:Compared with the healthy group, the use of immature defense mechanisms and intermediate defense mechanisms is significantly different in the first schizophrenia patients. The scores of various defense mechanisms in female patients are higher than those in male patients. The differences between fantasy, somatization and withdrawal in immature defense mechanisms and sublimation in mature defense mechanisms are obvious.After treatment, the negative scale score of male patients was higher than that of female patients (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: The immature psychological defense mechanism of first-episode schizophrenia is significant, and has a certain correlation with clinical characteristics, and there is a mutual influence relationship.

Decreased plasma concentrations of kynurenine and kynurenic acid in schizophrenia patients

IntroductionThe kynurenine pathway of tryptophan catabolism has come into the spotlight of schizophrenia research since its catabolites exert neuroactive effects. A strong body of evidence suggests that kynurenic acid, a catabolite of kynurenine pathway, acts as the only endogenous NMDA receptor antagonist leading to the weakening of circuits in layer III of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients. Studies exploring the levels of kynurenic acid and other metabolites of tryptophan in peripheral blood did not yield any definite conclusions.ObjectivesPrimary objective of this study was to assess differences in concentrations of key constituents of kynurenic pathway in blood plasma – tryptophan (TRP), kynurenine (KYN) and kynurenic acid (KYNA) between schizophrenia patients (SCZ) and healthy controls (HC). Secondary objective was to explore correlations between these concentrations and clinical characteristics.MethodsIn our two-centre prospective case-control study we measured plasma concentrations of TRP, KYN and KYNA in 36 healthy controls (HC) and 38 schizophrenia (SCZ) patients during acute exacerbation and remission and explored the correlations with clinical parameters using PANSS scale. The patients were matched with HC by age, sex and body mass index and exclusion criteria included obesity class 2 or higher, any concomitant organic mental or neurological disorder, acute or chronic inflammatory disease, and use of immunomodulatory drugs or psychoactive substances.ResultsTRP concentrations were significantly higher in HC than in SCZ patients in acute phase (p&lt;0,001) and remission (p&lt;0,001), while SCZ patients in acute phase had significantly higher TRP levels than in remission (p&lt;0,01). Levels of KYNA and KYN were significantly lower in SCZ patients than in HC both in acute phase and remission, all with high statistical significance (p&lt;0,001). There was no statistically significant difference between acute phase and remission neither for KYN (p&gt;0,05), nor for KYNA (p&gt;0,05). There was no correlation of plasma levels of TRP, KYN and KYNA with total PANSS score, PANSS positive scale score, PANSS negative scale score and PANSS general psychopathology scores, both in acute phase and remission (p&gt;0,05). Also, there was no correlation between plasma levels of TRP, KYN and KYNA in SCZ patients in remission with improvements measured with PANSS scale (p&gt;0,05).ConclusionsAlthough there are concerns about the value of measurement of metabolites of kynurenine pathway in the peripheral blood, our data suggest that significantly decreased levels of KYN and KYNA could suggest that disrupted TRP degradation in SCZ patients may be reflected in the peripheral blood as well. Further studies of peripheral levels of kynurenine pathway metabolites on larger samples should also explore effects of antipsychotic therapy, but also their correlation with other clinical parameters such as neurocognition.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

A study of association between serum testosterone levels and clinical aspects of schizophrenia

Background: Sex disparities in schizophrenia especially in negative symptoms may be related to the action of sex steroid hormones. Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze relationship of serum testosterone levels with respect to clinical psychopathology laying emphasis on negative symptoms in male patients with schizophrenia. Material and Methods: The study population consisted of two hundred male schizophrenia patients and fifty- age matched healthy individuals. Sociodemographic data and history of illness were noted in semi-structured proforma. Clinical psychopathology was assessed by Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Drug Induced Extrapyramidal Symptoms Scale (DIEPSS) and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) were also used to exclude the effects of extrapyramidal symptoms and depression. Serum testosterone level was measured by chemiluminescence method. Data were analyzed by chi square test (x2) and z-test. Pearson’s correlation analysis was used for association of testosterone level with PANSS sub-scale scores. Results: Mean testosterone level was significantly lower in schizophrenia patients (381.90±158.29; p ˭ 0.001) as compared to healthy subjects (520.51±145.94). A significant inverse association was detected between PANSS negative sub scale scores and testosterone levels (r ˭ -0.211, p ˭ 0.034). There was no correlation with other PANSS sub scale items (i.e., positive symptoms, general psychopathology and total scores), age of onset and disease duration. Conclusion: The present study indicates that lower level of testosterone may have a role in presentation of negative symptoms in schizophrenia, and the pathophysiological processes of disease affected the testosterone levels. Therefore, clinicians are advised to monitor levels of testosterone in patients with predominant negative symptoms of schizophrenia and enquire about sexual dysfunction and infertility. Lower level of sex steroids is a point of concern as these patients are at high risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular co-morbidities. In near future therapeutic strategies targeting testosterone could be useful in ameliorating the negative symptoms of disease.

Exploring Brain Structural and Functional Biomarkers in Schizophrenia via Brain-Network-Constrained Multi-View SCCA.

Recent studies have proved that dynamic regional measures extracted from the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, such as the dynamic fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (d-fALFF), could provide a great insight into brain dynamic characteristics of the schizophrenia. However, the unimodal feature is limited for delineating the complex patterns of brain deficits. Thus, functional and structural imaging data are usually analyzed together for uncovering the neural mechanism of schizophrenia. Investigation of neural function-structure coupling enables to find the potential biomarkers and further helps to understand the biological basis of schizophrenia. Here, a brain-network-constrained multi-view sparse canonical correlation analysis (BN-MSCCA) was proposed to explore the intrinsic associations between brain structure and dynamic brain function. Specifically, the d-fALFF was first acquired based on the sliding window method, whereas the gray matter map was computed based on voxel-based morphometry analysis. Then, the region-of-interest (ROI)-based features were extracted and further selected by performing the multi-view sparse canonical correlation analysis jointly with the diagnosis information. Moreover, the brain-network-based structural constraint was introduced to prompt the detected biomarkers more interpretable. The experiments were conducted on 191 patients with schizophrenia and 191 matched healthy controls. Results showed that the BN-MSCCA could identify the critical ROIs with more sparse canonical weight patterns, which are corresponding to the specific brain networks. These are biologically meaningful findings and could be treated as the potential biomarkers. The proposed method also obtained a higher canonical correlation coefficient for the testing data, which is more consistent with the results on training data, demonstrating its promising capability for the association identification. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the potential clinical applications, the detected biomarkers were further analyzed on a schizophrenia-control classification task and a correlation analysis task. The experimental results showed that our method had a superior performance with a 5–8% increment in accuracy and 6–10% improvement in area under the curve. Furthermore, two of the top-ranked biomarkers were significantly negatively correlated with the positive symptom score of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Overall, the proposed method could find the association between brain structure and dynamic brain function, and also help to identify the biological meaningful biomarkers of schizophrenia. The findings enable our further understanding of this disease.

Are negative symptoms more common in schizophrenia patients with positive family psychiatric history?

Background and aim. Schizophrenia, a complex mental health disorder affecting one in 300 individuals globally, presents with clinical manifestations influenced by hereditary, environmental and neurobiological factors. Despite extensive research, its etiology and pathophysiological mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Our aim was to explore the impact of family psychiatric history on the negative symptoms of this disorder. Method. We performed a cross-sectional study involving 110 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Participants were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score. Logistic regression and regression analyses were employed to examine relationships between variables. Results. Patients with positive family psychiatric history (PFPH) have shown a statistically significant increase in PANSS Negative Scale scores compared to those with negative family psychiatric history (NFPH). While individual PANSS Negative Scale subdomains showed variations, the overall negative symptomatology was notably accentuated in the PFPH group. Conclusion. Our findings contribute to understanding schizophrenia’s multifactorial nature, highlighting the role of family psychiatric history in influencing negative symptoms and the overall course of the disease. Tailoring interventions based on individual mental health needs may enhance outcomes and may improve the quality of life of individuals living with schizophrenia.