Annamaria Lax

Depression after Stroke and Risk of Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background. Depression after stroke may have great burden on the likelihood of functional recovery and long-term outcomes. Objective. To estimate the association between depression after stroke and subsequent mortality. Methods. A systematic search of articles using PubMed and Web of Science databases was performed. Odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) were used as association measures for pooled analyses, based on random-effects models. Results. Thirteen studies, involving 59,598 subjects suffering from stroke (6,052 with and 53,546 without depression), had data suitable for meta-analysis. The pooled OR for mortality at followup in people suffering from depression after stroke was 1.22 (1.02–1.47). Subgroups analyses highlighted that only studies with medium-term followup (2–5 years) showed a statistically significant association between depression and risk of death. Four studies had data suitable for further analysis of pooled HR. The meta-analysis revealed a HR for mortality of 1.52 (1.02–2.26) among people with depression after stroke. Conclusions. Despite some limitations, this paper confirms the potential role of depression on post stroke mortality. The relationship between depression and mortality after stroke seems to be related to the followup duration. Further research is needed to clarify the nature of the association between depression after stroke and mortality.

Plasma adiponectin levels in schizophrenia and role of second-generation antipsychotics: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND People with schizophrenia are more likely than general population to suffer from metabolic abnormalities, with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) increasing the risk. Low plasma adiponectin levels may lead to metabolic dysregulations but evidence in people with schizophrenia, especially for the role of SGAs, is still inconclusive. OBJECTIVE To compare plasma adiponectin levels between people with schizophrenia and healthy controls, and to estimate the relative effect of schizophrenia and SGAs on adiponectin. METHODS We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies published up to 13 June 2014 in main electronic databases. Pooled standardized mean differences (SMDs) between index and control groups were generated. Appropriate subanalyses and additional subgroup analyses were carried out. RESULTS Data from 2735 individuals, 1013 with and 1722 without schizophrenia, respectively, were analysed. Schizophrenia was not associated with lower adiponectin levels (SMD of -0.28, 95%CI: -0.59, 0.04; p=0.09). However, individuals with schizophrenia taking SGAs had plasma levels significantly lower than controls (p=0.002), which was not the case of drug free/drug naïve subjects (p=0.52). As regards single antipsychotic drugs clozapine (p<0.001) and olanzapine (p=0.04)--but not risperidone (p=0.88)--were associated with adiponectin levels lower than controls. CONCLUSIONS People with schizophrenia per se may not have levels of adiponectin lower than controls, though treatment with SGAs is associated with this metabolic abnormality. This bears clinical significance because of hypoadiponectinemia involvement in cardiovascular diseases, even if mechanisms whereby SGAs affect adiponectin remain unexplained. Longitudinal studies evaluating long-term effects of SGAs on adiponectin are needed.

First-generation antipsychotics and QTc: any role for mediating variables?

Corrected QT (QTc) interval prolongation is often associated with use of first‐generation antipsychotics (FGAs). However, other factors require appropriate consideration, including age and gender, the role of other known medications associated with QTc prolongation, and severe comorbid conditions, such as co‐occurring alcohol abuse/dependence. We aimed to study potential mediating roles of different, related, candidate variables on QTc.

Executive control in schizophrenia: a preliminary study on the moderating role of COMT Val158Met for comorbid alcohol and substance use disorders

Abstract Background: A functional polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene (Val158Met) appears to influence cognition in people with alcohol/substance use disorders (AUD/SUD) and in those with psychosis. Methods: To explore the potential moderating effect of these factors, a cross-sectional study was conducted, randomly recruiting subjects with DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia. AUD/SUD was rigorously assessed, as well as COMT Val158Met polymorphism. Executive control functioning was measured using the Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift (IED). The effect of a possible interaction between comorbid AUD/SUD and COMT Val158Met polymorphism on IED scores was explored. Results: Subjects with schizophrenia, comorbid AUD/SUD, and MetMet carriers for SNP rs4680 of the COMT gene showed worse performance on IED completed stages scores, as compared with individuals with ValVal genotype. However, among subjects without AUD/SUD, those with the MetMet variant performed better than people carrying ValVal genotype. Conclusions: This study is the first to date examining the impact of COMT on cognition in a highly representative sample of people with schizophrenia and comorbid AUD/SUD. Differential moderating effects of COMT Val/Met genotype variations may similarly influence executive functions in people with schizophrenia and comorbid AUD/SUD.

1882 – The association between post-stroke depression and mortality: a metaanalysis

Introduction Stroke represents the third most frequent cause of mortality in developed countries, following only coronary heart diseases and cancer. Post-Stroke Depression (PSD) is extremely common among stroke survivors, and it may have great burden on the likelihood of functional recovery and long-term outcomes. We hypothesized that PSD is related to a higher rate of mortality among people suffering from a stroke. Aim To estimate the risk of mortality among subjects suffering from PSD as compared with stroke survivors who did not suffer from PSD. Methods We performed a systematic review of papers indexed in Pubmed. Both fixed and random-effects methods for estimating association and time-to-event pooled effects were used. The presence and the level of heterogeneity were assessed using Q test and I 2 statistic. Results Seven papers had data suitable for meta-analysis. The pooled association effect for mortality at follow-up in people with PSD were statistically significant (p Conclusions These findings pointed out the potential burden of PSD on post stroke mortality. Further investigation is required to clarify the nature of PSD/mortality association.

1762 – Defense mechanisms, personality disorders and eating disorders: a comparison

Introduction An analysis of the literature on eating disorders (ED) indicates that Eds are often comorbid with the diagnosis of Personality Disorder (PD). This seems to be a psychopathological feature, characteristic of this patient population. However, the double classification seems to be often insufficient when describing a very complex psychopathological picture. These observations have informed our intention to investigate these two distinct nosographic groups by means of a single construct. Aims The aim of this study is to identify and describe (through tests that evaluate defense mechanisms) the defensive styles that characterize the two groups of patients, in order to outline a defensive profile that can assimilate or differentiate the psychopathological groups. Materials and methods The study was carried at the Department of Psichiatry of the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza. The Defence Style Questionnaire-40 (Farma Cortinovis, 2000) was administered and analysed. The sample consisted of 40 participants with eating disorders, recruited among the outpatients for eating disorders, and 40 patients with personality disorders recruited from two Psychiatric Outpatient Services. Results and conclusions The data analysis showed a statistical significance in the use of Immature defense mechanisms and Neurotic defence mechanisms in both clinical samples.The patients with PD used a significantly higher number of psychotic defense mechanisms than patients with ED. These results may suggest that in ED patients, the symptoms can be themselves considered as defense mechanisms, or a defensive style that characterizes and makes specific the psychopathological picture.

Facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia: An exploratory study on the role of comorbid alcohol and substance use disorders and COMT Val158Met

To explore whether facial emotion recognition (FER), impaired in both schizophrenia and alcohol and substance use disorders (AUDs/SUDs), is additionally compromised among comorbid subjects, also considering the role of catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met.

First-generation antipsychotics and QTc: any role for mediating variables?: Antipsychotics, QTc, and Mediation

Corrected QT (QTc) interval prolongation is often associated with use of first‐generation antipsychotics (FGAs). However, other factors require appropriate consideration, including age and gender, the role of other known medications associated with QTc prolongation, and severe comorbid conditions, such as co‐occurring alcohol abuse/dependence. We aimed to study potential mediating roles of different, related, candidate variables on QTc.

Facial Emotion Recognition and Disorganization in Subjects with Schizophrenia and Alcohol, Substance Use Disorder

Introduction Schizophrenia (SKZ) is a disease characterized by positive and negative symptoms, thoughts and behaviour disorganization with a progressive socio-cognitive impairment 1 ; deficits in facial emotion recognition (FER) represent one of the most serious problems linked to interpersonal problems 2 . In addition, these patients have often comorbid condition of alcohol and substances abuse 3 . Objectives to compare the ability of FER in patients with SKZ using alcohol and/or substances (SKZ+SUD) compared to schizophrenics without SUD (SUD-SKZ). Methods we enrolled 53 subjects (M=40, F=13) with a DSM-IV diagnosis of SKZ (SCID I). The sample was divided according to alcohol and/or substance abuse (AUS and DUS) into two groups, compared for socio-demographic and clinic characteristics (PANSS and Bell model 4 ). We analyzed the association between abuse condition and Ekman test performance. Results SKZ+SUD (n=20; M=16, F=4) and SKZ-SUD (n=33; M=24, F=9) show a statistically significant age difference with a mean (SD) of 38.4 years (10.5) and 46.0 years (8.7) respectively (p=0.006). SKZ+SUD Ekman test score (mean=43.1, SD=6.9) was statistically higher (p=0.006) than SKZ-SUD (mean=34.6, SD=12.0). The different performance was more evident in comparison with poly-abusers (44.94±7.05 vs 12.04±34.6; p=0.002). We further noticed the role of disorganization as a mediator of the relationship between abuse and FER score (p=0.017): the proportion of the effect of abuse on Ekman test score was 48%. Conclusions In subjects with SKZ, FER seems to be less impaired in abusers than non-abusers. We also showed an important role of thoughts and behavioral disorganization as a mediator between SKZ+SUD and FER.

1842 – Severe mental illness and metabolic syndrome: a meta-analysis

Introduction People suffering from Severe Mental Illness (SMI) have a shorter life expectancy than general population. The excess of mortality may be primarily due to premature cardiovascular diseases. Subjects with a diagnosis of SMI may have an high prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). Aim To estimate the risk of MetS among subjects with SMI compared to their counterpart without SMI. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis of English and non-English articles using PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO was performed. ORs with related confidence intervals were used as association measures. All pooled analyses were based on random-effects models. Results The pooled analysis showed a statistically significant association for MetS in people suffering from SMI. However, we found a consistent level of heterogeneity between the included studies. Subanalyses showed that both SCZ and BD had higher risk than general population without SMI. No statistical differences were found comparing SCZ and BD subjects. Conclusions People with SMI have significantly higher risk to having MetS than general population. Despite some limitations, the results of present meta-analysis emphasize the relevance of a continuous cardio-metabolic assessment in the SMI population. Longitudinal researches are needed in order to assess the impact of a regular cardiovascular screening, prevention and treatment on the improvement of health status and life expectancy among people suffering from SMI.