Selection of Articles from Medline (12/26/01)

Cognitive impairment in elderly patients with schizophrenia: age related changes.
By Harvey PD, in Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 16(S1):S78-S85, 2001.
A current review of olanzapine's safety in the geriatric patient: from pre-clinical pharmacology to clinical data.
By Kennedy JS, Bymaster FP, Schuh L, Calligaro DO, Nomikos G, Felder CC, Bernauer M, Kinon BJ, Baker RW, Hay D, Roth HJ, Dossenbach M, Kaiser C, Beasley CM, Holcombe JH, Effron MB & Breier A, in Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 16(S1):S33-S61, 2001.
Negative symptoms in the elderly patient with dementia.
By Reichman WE & Negron A, in Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 16(S1):S7-S11, 2001.
Citalopram augmentation of antipsychotic treatment in older schizophrenia patients.
By Kasckow JW, Mohamed S, Thallasinos A, Carroll B, Zisook S & Jeste DV, in Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 16(12):1163-1167, 2001.
Summary: Coginitive impairment in schizophrenia is one of the major features of the illness, and has not been studied extensively in older patients. An article series in the December issue of the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry brings up some of the aspects associated with schizophrenia in older patients. There is evidence of progressive brain changes over the lifespan in patients with schizophrenia, why the course of cognitive deficits in later life is an important topic, both for understanding the lifetime course of schizophrenia and for developing interventions aimed at reducing the symptoms.

Dopamine interacts directly with its D3 and D2 receptors on normal human T cells, and activates beta1 integrin function.
By Levite M, Chowers Y, Ganor Y, Besser M, Hershkovits R & Cahalon L, in Eur J Immunol. 31(12):3504-3512, 2001.
Summary: Dopamine by itself has not up to now been reported to activate T cells. This article, however, shows that dopamine interacts directly with dopaminergic receptors on normal human T cells and triggers mechanisms that are important for the T cell's trafficking across blood vessels and tissue barriers. The results indicate that the previously reported changes in the D3 and D2 receptor RNA levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes of individuals with schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and migraine can serve not only as a passive diagnostic marker, but indeed reflect the dynamic interactions between dopamine and T cells in these diseases.

The early stages of schizophrenia: speculations on pathogenesis, pathophysiology, and therapeutic approaches.
By Lieberman JA, Perkins D, Belger A, Chakos M, Jarskog F, Boteva K & Gilmore J, in Biol Psychiatry. 50(11):884-897, 2001.
Summary: The earlier neurobiological disorders like schizophrenia are discovered, the greater is the chance the progress of them can be prevented. This article discusses the features of the early stages of schizophrenia, and how these may be detected and intervened with, in order to favorably alter the course and order of the disease.

The changing roles and targets for animal models of schizophrenia.
By Kilts CD, in Biol Psychiatry. 50(11):845-855, 2001. Review.
Summary: Thanks to its complexity, animals for schizophrenia are hard to develop. This review addresses the evolving field of animal models of schizophrenia with a focus on models of errors in neurotransmission, and of psychophysiological deficits, with a concluding discussion of the present and future promise of genetic-based animal models for psychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia.