International Clinical Psychopharmacology最新文献

Tramadol and venlafaxine share similar pharmacological characteristics that may allow for overlapping therapeutic indications for them. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of venlafaxine and naltrexone in the treatment of tramadol abuse. This comparative trial included 95 patients with tramadol abuse who were detoxified for 2 weeks. Twenty-eight participants underwent the maintenance phase, while the remaining participants (n = 67) dropped out. The patients were randomized to use 50 mg/day of naltrexone or 225 mg/day of venlafaxine for 8 weeks. All participants were interviewed using SCID-I (DSM-IV-TR) criteria for diagnosing substance use and other psychiatric disorders. The proportion of relapsed patients was comparable between the naltrexone and venlafaxine groups (29.4% vs. 30.4%, P  = 0.9). However, participants in the venlafaxine group stayed in treatment longer than participants in the naltrexone group, and the difference was significant (22.9 ± 7.89 days vs. 16.9 ± 3.4 days, P = 0.01). Only psychiatric comorbidity was found to be significantly associated with retention in treatment (80% vs. 22%, P  = 0.005). Venlafaxine is as effective as naltrexone in preventing relapse in patients with tramadol abuse. Venlafaxine was more effective than naltrexone in treatment retention.

This study aims to analyze changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and safety in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) prescribed a homogenous selection of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs). Patients prescribed Adven CBMPs (Curaleaf International, UK) for GAD were identified from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. Primary outcomes were changes in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) from baseline up to 12 months, including GAD-7, Single-Item Sleep Quality Scale (SQS), and EQ-5D-5L. Adverse events were recorded using CTCAE version 4.0. A total of 120 patients were identified for inclusion, of which 38 (31.67%), 52 (43.33%), and 30 (25.00%) were prescribed oils, dried flower, and both formulations of CBMP. Associated improvements in GAD-7, SQS, and EQ-5D-5L at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months were observed compared to baseline ( P  < 0.010). There were 24 (20.00%) patients who reported 442 (368.33%) adverse events, most of which were mild (n = 184, 41.63%) and moderate (n = 197, 44.57%). This study reports an association between initiation of a homogeneous CBMP therapy and improvements in anxiety severity and HRQoL in individuals with GAD. Moreover, therapy was well-tolerated at 12 months follow-up. Further investigation through randomized controlled trials will ultimately be required to determine causation.

Prisoners constitute a group at suicide risk, showing higher relative rates of suicides than the general population. However, there is limited knowledge about the characteristics of those who die by suicide in Italian prisons. Based on the total sample of suicides of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Milan (1993-2022), suicides in prison (N = 120) were matched by age and gender with cases that occurred outside prison (N = 300) and compared with them. The considered variables were sociodemographic, clinical, and suicide-related. Univariate analyses and logistic regression model were performed. In univariate analyses, suicides in prison showed higher rates of ethnicity different from white Caucasian, lower rates of depression, higher rates of alcoholism, addiction, respiratory system diseases, hepatitis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, lower use of any medication, and in particular psychotropic medications, and a higher percentage of violent suicide method versus nonviolent compared to suicides outside prison. In the logistic regression model, ethnicity, depression, and addiction were the only features differentiating suicides in prison from ones outside prison. Particular attention should be paid to inmates with non-white ethnicity and those with addiction. Ensuring adequate access to psychiatric care and implementing comprehensive suicide prevention strategies within Italian prisons is crucial.

Schizophrenia is often associated with substance use disorders, particularly cannabis use disorder (CUD). However, treatments frequently fail to address both conditions simultaneously. This study aimed to evaluate the antipsychotic effectiveness of cariprazine in patients with both schizophrenia and CUD in a real-world setting. A 6-month observational study was conducted on 58 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and CUD, treated with cariprazine. Antipsychotic effectiveness was measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Clinical Global Impression-Schizophrenia Scale, along with the Improvement and Severity scales. Cannabis consumption and addiction severity were assessed using the Cannabis Abuse Screening Test and the Severity of Dependence Scale, while functioning was evaluated with the Sheehan Disability Inventory. Cariprazine treatment resulted in significant improvements in schizophrenia symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale change: -47.88 points, P < 0.0001; Clinical Global Impression-Schizophrenia Scale change: -8.26 points, P < 0.0001). Cannabis use and dependence also decreased (Cannabis Abuse Screening Test change: -7.0 points, P < 0.0001; Severity of Dependence Scale change: -7.88 points, P < 0.0001), alongside improvements in functioning (Sheehan Disability Inventory change: -9.48 points, P < 0.0001). These results suggest that cariprazine is effective for both schizophrenia and CUD, though further research is needed to confirm these findings.

The effective treatment in the early stages of schizophrenia is of critical importance to improve the prognosis. Schizophrenia affects patients' relatives too. The effects of early or late initiation of long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI-APs) on the patient have been shown, yet their effects on the caregiver are still unknown. We aimed to determine how the time of initiation of LAI-APs affects the caregiver burden by comparing the patients who were started on LAI-APs in the first 5 years of diagnosis and those who were started at a later period. Patients were classified as 'early-LAI' and 'late-LAI' according to the time of initiation of a LAI-AP. Their caregivers were also classified as the same way, as 'caregiver-early' and 'caregiver-late' and were compared in terms of caregiver burden. The quality of life, depression, anxiety, and caregiver burden scores of the caregiver-late group were significantly worse. The time of initiation of LAI-APs and the functioning levels of the patients were found to be determinant factors for the caregiver burden. This is the first study to investigate the effects of LAI-AP's initiation time on the caregivers to our knowledge. The use of LAI-APs in the early stages is associated with better outcomes for the caregiver.

The association between mood disorders, especially bipolar disorder (BD), and metabolic disorders, is long known. However, to which extent metabolic disorders affect the course of mood disorders in late life is still open to inquiring. To assess the impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on late-life mood disorders a retrospective chart review was performed. Elderly depressive patients (≥ 65 years) diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (N = 57) or BD (N = 43) and followed up for at least 18 months were included and subdivided according to the presence of T2DM comorbidity. Vascular encephalopathy (39.1% vs. 15.6%, P  = 0.021) and neurocognitive disorders (21.7% vs. 5.2%, P  = 0.028), were more frequently reported in patients with T2DM than in those without. Patients with T2DM showed a greater percentage of follow-up time in manic episodes (r = -0.23, P  = 0.020) and a higher rate of manic episode(s) during follow-up (21.7% vs. 5.2%, P  = 0.028) than those without. When restricting longitudinal analyses to patients with bipolar spectrum disorders, results were confirmed. In line with the well-known connection between BD and metabolic disorders, our data support an association between T2DM and unfavorable course of illness in the elderly with BD.

About 30% of patients with major depressive disorder have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Recently, intranasal esketamine was approved as a treatment option after the failure of two antidepressant trials. We report a patient with multiresistant depression that was successfully and safely treated with esketamine nasal spray. This 31-year-old inpatient with severe, chronic, and multi-TRD received an acute course of intranasal esketamine (84 mg). Previously, 14 different antidepressants, alone or in potentiation, and several neurostimulation techniques had been unsuccessful. Over 20 bi-weekly sessions, she had no significant adverse effects and was stabilized into remission. During the maintenance phase and 1 year after, she continues to be stable. This case report provides an example of a patient with severe TRD that showed significant improvement after treatment with intranasal esketamine.

Our study aimed to examine how the presence of Mild Behavioral Impairment (MBI) symptoms influenced the outcome of late-life depression (LLD). Twenty-nine elderly (≥ 60 years) depressive patients, including eleven (37.9%) with MBI, were recruited and followed-up on average for 33.41 ± 8.24 weeks. Psychiatric symptoms severity and global functioning were assessed, respectively, using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. BPRS total score significantly decreased from baseline to follow-up ( P  < 0.001, d = 1.33). The presence of MBI had no significant effect on mood and cognitive symptoms improvement. On the contrary, while a significant increase in GAF score was observed in patients without MBI ( P  = 0.001, d = 1.01), no significant improvement of global functioning was detected in those with MBI ( P  = 0.154, d = 0.34) after 6-month follow-up. The presence of MBI in patients with LLD may negatively affect long-term outcome, slowing or preventing functional improvement.