MariLuz Ramirez-Bonilla

Epidemiological factors associated with treated incidence of first‐episode non‐affective psychosis in Cantabria: insights from the Clinical Programme on Early Phases of Psychosis

Aim: The aim of the study was to analyse the treated incidence of schizophrenia in Cantabria (Northern Spain) and the sociodemographic risk factors associated with the illness onset.

Neurocognitive effectiveness of haloperidol, risperidone, and olanzapine in first-episode psychosis: a randomized, controlled 1-year follow-up comparison.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the neurocognitive effectiveness of haloperidol, risperidone, and olanzapine in first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. METHOD This prospective, randomized, open-label study was conducted from February 2001 to February 2005. Data for the present investigation were obtained from a large epidemiologic and 3-year longitudinal intervention program of first-episode psychosis (DSM-IV criteria) conducted at the outpatient clinic and the inpatient unit at the University Hospital Marques de Valdecilla, Santander, Spain. One hundred four patients randomly assigned to haloperidol (N = 35), olanzapine (N = 30), or risperidone (N = 39) who completed clinical and cognitive evaluations at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year were included in the final analysis. Thirty-seven healthy individuals were also longitudinally assessed. A neuropsychological battery that comprised 9 cognitive domains was used. The contribution of clinical changes, concomitant medications, and the severity of motor side effects to cognitive changes was controlled. The main outcome measure was cognitive changes at 1-year follow-up. RESULTS The 3 treatment groups showed a significant improvement in cognitive scores after 1 year. The differential cognitive effectiveness between antipsychotics was insignificant. The magnitude of cognitive changes was similar in the 3 treatment groups and controls, although a greater improvement on the Finger Tapping Test, Trail Making Test B, and Rey Complex Figure Test was found in the treatment groups. Clinical changes, use of concomitant medications, and the emergence of motor side effects did not significantly account for cognitive changes over time. CONCLUSION Haloperidol, olanzapine, and risperidone were equally effective in treating cognitive deficits of psychosis. The effect of practice clearly contributes to cognitive score improvements after treatment with antipsychotics. Our results provide important information regarding the practical utility of antipsychotic treatments to improve cognition and could have implications for developing novel approaches for cognitive pharmacotherapy in schizophrenia.

Effectiveness of haloperidol, risperidone and olanzapine in the treatment of first-episode non-affective psychosis: results of a randomized, flexible-dose, open-label 1-year follow-up comparison

The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term effectiveness and efficacy of haloperidol, risperidone and olanzapine in first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. This was a prospective, randomized, open-label study. Data for the present investigation were obtained from a large epidemiological and 3-year longitudinal intervention programme of first-episode psychosis conducted at the University Hospital Marques de Valdecilla, Santander, Spain. One hundred and seventy-four patients were randomly assigned to haloperidol (N = 56), olanzapine (N = 55), or risperidone (N = 63) and followed up for 1 year. The primary effectiveness measure was all causes of treatment discontinuation. Effectiveness analyses were based on intend-to-treat populations. In addition, an analysis based on per protocol populations was conducted in the analysis for clinical efficacy. The treatment discontinuation rate for any cause was higher with haloperidol than with risperidone and olanzapine (χ2 = 8.517; p = 0.014). The difference in discontinuation rate between risperidone and olanzapine was not significant (χ2 = 0.063; p = 0.802). There were no significant advantages of any of the three treatments in reducing the severity of psychopathology. Risperidone and olanzapine demonstrated higher effectiveness relative to haloperidol, but the three antipsychotics were equally effective in reducing the severity of psychopathology. Specific clinical programmes and the use of second-generation antipsychotics may enhance the effectiveness of antipsychotic treatments.

The effect of excess weight on circulating inflammatory cytokines in drug-naïve first-episode psychosis individuals

BackgroundLow-grade inflammation has been repeatedly associated with both excess weight and psychosis. However, no previous studies have addressed the direct effect of body mass index (BMI) on basal serum cytokines in individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP).ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to analyze the effect of BMI on basal serum cytokine levels in FEP patients and control subjects, separating the total sample into two groups: normal-weight and overweight individuals.MethodsThis is a prospective and open-label study. We selected 75 FEP patients and 75 healthy controls with similar characteristics to patients according to the following variables: sex, age, and cannabis and tobacco consumption. Both controls and patients were separated into two groups according to their BMI: subjects with a BMI under 25 were considered as normal weight and those with a BMI equal to or more than 25 were considered as overweight. Serum levels of 21 cytokines/chemokines were measured at baseline using the Human High Sensitivity T Cell Magnetic Bead Panel protocol from the Milliplex® Map Kit. We compared the basal serum levels of the 21 cytokines between control and patient groups according to their BMI.ResultsIn the normal-weight group, IL-8 was the only cytokine that was higher in patients than in the control group (p = 0.001), whereas in the overweight group, serum levels of two pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, p = 0.000; IL-1β, p = 0.003), two chemokines (IL-8, p = 0.001; MIP-1β, p = 0.001), four Th-1 and Th-2 cytokines (IL-13, p = 0.009; IL-2, p = 0.001; IL-7, p = 0.001; IL-12p70, p = 0.010), and one Type-3 cytokine (IL-23, p = 0.010) were higher in patients than in controls.ConclusionsMost differences in the basal serum cytokine levels between patients and healthy volunteers were found in the overweight group. These findings suggest that excess weight can alter the homeostasis of the immune system and therefore may have an additive pro-inflammatory effect on the one produced by psychosis in the central nervous system.

Comparison of the anti-inflammatory effect of aripiprazole and risperidone in 75 drug-naïve first episode psychosis individuals: A 3 months randomized study

INTRODUCTION Evidence about the anti-inflammatory properties of antipsychotics has grown. However, no previous studies have compared the immunomodulatory effect of risperidone and aripiprazole. OBJECTIVES The main aim of the present work is to compare the anti-inflammatory effect of risperidone and aripiprazole on a large array of serum cytokines at 3 months following the onset of treatment. METHODS This is a prospective, randomized, open-label study. Patients were randomly assigned to risperidone or aripiprazole. From this randomization, 75 patients and 75 healthy volunteers that matched with the selected patients were picked for entry in this study. Serum concentrations of 21 cytokines/chemokines were measured at baseline and 3 months following the initiation of antipsychotic medication. RESULTS Those patients who were randomly assigned to risperidone had higher levels of IL-8 (p = 0.000) and MIP-1β (p = 0.007) than healthy volunteers at baseline, whereas no differences were found between patients initially assigned to aripiprazole and healthy volunteers. Three months following the onset of medication several cytokines decreased significantly: IL-8, MIP-1β, Fractalkine, TNF-α, IL-7, IL-13, IL-17α, IL-23, IL-21 (all ps < 0.01). No differences were found in the percentages of change between both treatments. The effect size of the two antipsychotics was similar, except for TNF-α, IL-13, IL-17α and Fractalkine, in which aripiprazole seems to have a greater effect size than risperidone, whereas risperidone seems to have a greater effect size than aripiprazole on MIP-1β. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study that has compared the immunomodulatory effect of risperidone and aripiprazole, finding that the anti-inflammatory effect of both treatments was similar.

Cannabis use in male and female first episode of non-affective psychosis patients: Long-term clinical, neuropsychological and functional differences

Background Numerous studies show the existence of a high prevalence of cannabis use among patients with psychosis. However, the differences between men and women who debut with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) regarding cannabis use have not been largely explored. The aim of this study was to identify the specific sex factors and differences in clinical evolution associated with cannabis use. Method Sociodemographic characteristics at baseline were considered in our sample of FEP patients to find differences depending on sex and the use of cannabis. Clinical, functional and neurocognitive variables at baseline, 1-year, and 3-years follow-up were also explored. Results A total of 549 patients, of whom 43% (N = 236) were cannabis users, 79% (N = 186) male and 21% (N = 50) female, were included in the study. There was a clear relationship between being male and being a user of cannabis (OR = 5.6). Cannabis users were younger at illness onset. Longitudinal analysis showed that women significantly improved in all three dimensions of psychotic symptoms, both in the subgroup of cannabis users and in the non-users subgroup. Conversely, subgroups of men did not show improvement in the negative dimension. In cognitive function, only men presented a significant time by group interaction in processing speed, showing a greater improvement in the subgroup of cannabis users. Conclusion Despite knowing that there is a relationship between cannabis use and psychosis, due to the high prevalence of cannabis use among male FEP patients, the results showed that there were very few differences in clinical and neurocognitive outcomes between men and women who used cannabis at the start of treatment compared to those who did not.