These results suggest that sequence variations in SLC1A1 are associated with susceptibility to AAP-induced OC symptoms. This is the first published pharmacogenetic study on this phenomenon and provides preliminary evidence of the involvement of glutamatergic neurotransmission in the pathogenesis of AAP-induced OC symptoms.

Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most frequently isolated pathogens in both hospitals and the community, has been particularly efficient at developing resistance to antimicrobial agents. As methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has prevailed and, furthermore, as S. aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin has emerged, the therapeutic options for the treatment of S. aureus infections have become limited. To update the current status of antibiotic resistance, clinical S. aureus isolates were collected from eight university-affiliated hospitals from June 1999 to January 2001. Susceptibility tests with 28 antibiotics were performed by the disk diffusion method. Among a total of 682 isolates, the methicillin resistance rate was 64% (439 of 682), and most of the MRSA isolates were resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics. Although a constitutive macrolidelincosamide-streptogramin B resistance phenotype was common, no isolates were resistant to quinupristindalfopristin or linezolid. Rifampin, fusidic acid, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and arbekacin showed superior in vitro activity compared with the other antibiotics against the MRSA isolates. No isolates showed reduced susceptibility to vancomycin.Staphylococcus aureus is an important cause of serious infections in both hospitals and the community (16). S. aureus has been found to be the most frequently isolated pathogen causing bloodstream infections, skin and soft tissue infections, and pneumonia (6,19,20). Unfortunately this pathogen has been particularly efficient at developing resistance to antimicrobial agents. Since the first isolation of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in the United Kingdom in 1961 (12), increasing rates of methicillin resistance among S. aureus strains have been a cause for concern. In addition, MRSA has become resistant to multiple other antimicrobial agents. Until recently, vancomycin was believed to have retained activity against all strains of S. aureus; therefore, the spread of MRSA has led to increased vancomycin usage and hence increased selective pressure for the development of resistance.In 1997, the first documented infection caused by S. aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus) was reported in Japan (9). Subsequently, similar strains with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin were identified in several countries, including Korea (25). The aims of the present study were to analyze nationwide data on the susceptibilities of S. aureus isolates from tertiarycare hospitals and to improve the empirical approaches to the therapy of serious infections.(This work was presented in part at the 41st Annual Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Chicago, Ill., 16 to 19 December 2001.) MATERIALS AND METHODSBacterial isolates. Clinical S. aureus isolates were collected from eight university-affiliated hospitals, each hospital representing one of eight provinces in Korea. From June 1999 to January 2001, each participating hospital sent 100 consecutive isol...

Adverse effects of atypical antipsychotics (AAP) can include obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Based on biological evidence of the relationship between the glutamatergic system and both OC disorder and AAP, this study aimed to determine whether DLGAP3, coding a post-synaptic scaffolding protein of glutamatergic synapses, is associated with AAP-induced OC symptoms. Furthermore, we explored the interactions between DLGAP3 and a previously reported susceptibility gene, the glutamate transporter gene SLC1A1, regarding this phenotype. Subjects were clinically stable schizophrenia patients receiving AAP treatment (n = 94), and they comprised an OC group (n = 40) and a non-OC group (n = 54) (patients with and without AAP-induced OC symptoms, respectively). We performed allelic/genotypic/haplotype association analyses for seven tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms of DLGAP3 and gene-gene interaction analyses with rs2228622 of SLC1A1, observing a nominally significant association between AAP-induced OC symptoms and rs7525948 in both simple chi-square tests and the regression analyses (nominal P < 0.05). In the logistic regression analysis of gene-gene interaction, we found a significant interaction effect of rs7525948 of DLGAP3 and rs2228622 of SLC1A1 (permutation P = 0.036) on AAP-induced OC symptoms, with a 30.2 times higher odds for individuals carrying risk genotypes at both loci in comparison with the reference group, which had no risk genotypes. This study provides suggestive evidence that DLGAP3 and its interactive effect with SLC1A1 might be involved in susceptibility to developing OC symptoms in schizophrenia patients receiving AAP treatment.

study also found that changes in appetite and eating behavior were significantly associated with weight gain during the early phase of antipsychotic treatment.There are some limitations of this study. First, although the 3 index medications used in the current study could cover wide range of antipsychotics' propensities to induce weight gain, it is hard to generalize the current result to all antipsychotic-related weight gain. Second, we administered the DR-EBQ retrospectively, and some recall bias might have affected the results.Within the aforementioned limitations, the current study's findings suggest that changes in patients' eating behavior while taking antipsychotics seem to be highly associated with weight gain and that prominent characteristics of these changes include increased hunger sensation and loss of control over food craving, especially for sweets. Researchers could adopt the eatingbehavior change assessed by the DR-EBQ as a mediating factor in future studies exploring the biological mechanisms of antipsychotic-induced weight gain. Further studies to revise and upgrade the DR-EBQ for use in diverse clinical and biological studies are also warranted. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS