Browsing by Author "Pirildar S."

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    Low serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in patients with schizophrenia do not elevate after antipsychotic treatment
    (2004) Pirildar S.; Gönül A.S.; Taneli F.; Akdeniz F.
    Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been suggested to be involved in the etiology of schizophrenia. There is a line of evidence that disruption of neurotrophins could play a role in the etiology of schizophrenia, and antipsychotics show their effect by altering levels of neurotrophins. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of antipsychotics on serum BDNF levels and their relationship with the symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Twenty-two schizophrenia patients were enrolled in the study. The control group consisted of 22 age- and sex-matched physically and mentally healthy volunteers (7 male, 15 female). Serum BDNF levels and the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) scores were recorded at baseline and after 6 weeks of treatment. Serum BDNF levels were also recorded in the control group. Schizophrenia patients who failed to meet 30% improvement in PANSS score were excluded from the study. The baseline serum BDNF levels of schizophrenia patients were lower than those of controls (t=4.56; df=21; p<0.001). There was no correlation between serum BDNF levels and PANSS scores in patients with schizophrenia (p>0.05). Although PANSS (for positive symptoms p<0.001, for negative symptoms p<0.001) and general psychopathology (t=20.9; df=22; p<0.001) scores improved significantly after 6 weeks of antipsychotic treatment; there was no change in BDNF levels in patients' serum (p>0.05). Our results support the view that BDNF would be associated with schizophrenia. However, we could not conclude that treatment with antipsychotics alters serum BDNF levels in patients with schizophrenia. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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    Serum nitric oxide metabolite levels and the effect of antipsychotic therapy in schizophrenia
    (2004) Taneli F.; Pirildar S.; Akdeniz F.; Uyanik B.S.; Ari Z.
    Recently it was proposed that nitric oxide metabolites (NO) may have a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and major depressive disorders. The present study was performed to assess changes in serum nitric oxide metabolite levels in schizophrenic patients compared with healthy controls. Our secondary aim was to further evaluate the impact of psychopharmacologic treatment on circulating NO levels not assessed previously. Serum NO levels of patients with schizophrenia (n = 20) before and after 6 weeks of treatment were compared with those of healthy controls (n = 20). Severity of schizophrenia and response to treatment were assessed with positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. NO levels were estimated by Griess method in serum samples. In patients with schizophrenia, pre-treatment serum NO levels were higher than those of control subjects (39.15 ± 18.24 vs. 25.40 ± 5.83 μmol/L, p = 0.036) and also of post-treatment values (34.41 ± 16.35 vs. 25.40 ± 5.83 μmol/L, p = 0.049), respectively. However, no significant difference was found between serum NO levels in pre- and post-treatment values. Our findings of increased serum NO levels in schizophrenic patients confirmed the role of NO in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. However, we found that antipsychotic drugs do not reveal significant effects on serum levels of NO in schizophrenia in a 6-week treatment regimen. Further studies with longer therapy periods may suggest some new clues for novel treatment strategies employing antioxidants and NOS inhibitors in schizophrenia. © 2004 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Inc.