Some preclinical and postmortem studies suggest that the effects of atypical antipsychotics could be mediated by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Olanzapine is an atypical antipsychotic with shown efficacy in psychosis treatment. The aim of this study was to compare plasma BDNF levels at baseline and after 1 year of olanzapine treatment in 18 drug-naive patients who experienced a first psychotic episode with those of 18 healthy control participants matched by age, sex, and socioeconomic level. Plasma BDNF levels were measured in patients at the index episode and at 1, 6, and 12 months of follow-up using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Symptoms and functioning of patients and controls were assessed with the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale and Global Assessment of Function Scale. BDNF levels of patients at onset were significantly lower than controls but increased toward control values during olanzapine treatment. There was a significant positive correlation between BDNF levels and functioning (Global Assessment of Function Scale). BDNF levels were also negatively correlated with positive symptoms, but not with negative symptoms or general psychopathology. Results suggest that olanzapine can offset the low BDNF levels at the onset of first psychotic episodes, and improving psychotic symptoms. The increase in BDNF levels may be its mechanism of action in improving positive symptoms.
GUTIÉ RREZ, ARANTZA, GONZALO SARACÍBAR, LUIS CASIS, ENRIQUE ECHEVARRÍA, VÍCTOR MAN-UEL RODRÍGUEZ, MARIA TERESA MACARULLA, LUIS C. ABECIA, AND MARÍA P. PORTILLO. Effects of fluoxetine administration on neuropeptide Y and orexins in obese Zucker rat hypothalamus. Obes Res. 2002;10: 532-540. Objective: The aim of this work was to study the potential involvement of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and orexins in the anorexigenic mechanism of fluoxetine in obese Zucker rats, assessing the effects of chronic fluoxetine treatment on NPY and orexin immunostaining in several hypothalamic regions. Research Methods and Procedures: Male obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats were administered fluoxetine (10 mg/kg intraperitoneally) daily for 2 weeks. The control group was administered 0.9% NaCl solution. Carcass composition was assessed using the official methods of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. To test the potential thermogenic effect of fluoxetine administration, total body oxygen consumption was measured daily for 60 minutes before fluoxetine or saline injection and for 30 minutes after drug or saline injection. Hypothalamic arcuate and paraventricular nuclei, and the lateral hypothalamic area were immunostained for NPY, orexin A, and orexin B. Commercial kits were used for serum determinations. Results: Chronic fluoxetine administration in obese Zucker rats generated a reduction in body weight gain, food intake, adipocyte size, fat mass, and body protein. A decrease in NPY immunostaining in the paraventricular nucleus, without changes in the arcuate, was observed. However, no changes were observed in the number of neural cells immunostained for orexin A or orexin B in the lateral hypothalamic area. Discussion: Due to the hyperphagic effect of NPY in the paraventricular nucleus, these results suggest that NPY, but not orexins, could be involved in the anorexigenic effect of fluoxetine in obese Zucker rats.
This study explores the traditional media systems (press, radio and TV), the distribution and number of full-time journalists and the relative weight of those variables with reference to the speaking population in 10 European minority languages with at least a minimum press and/or broadcasting system, at the end of the first decade of the new millennium. The 10 communities that represent the often invisible reality of minority language Europe are Basque, Catalan, Galician, Corsican, Breton, Frisian, Irish, Welsh, Scottish-Gaelic and Sámi. The unit of analysis is the linguistic community. Presumably, it is the first systematic and comparative analysis focused on European minority language media.
This article investigates the reality and variations of the European minority language media systems between 2009 and 2016, a period of serious economic crisis and accelerated digitalization process. To that aim, several parameters were measured: structure of the media systems and changes during that period along the variables of media type, ownership and reach; presence and relevance of major media in each of the communities; number and variation of full-time journalists; and the density or relative weight of the media systems with regard to the speaking population. The 10 minority languages under analysis (Basque, Catalan, Galician, Corsican, Breton, Frisian, Irish, Welsh, Scottish-Gaelic and Sámi) represent a wide range of communities. The relevance of the study lies in its direct comparative nature and in the fact that it thoroughly updates previous scholarly literature, measuring the changes which occurred within the 10 media systems.
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