Causes and Consequences of the Gender Difference in Age at Onset of Schizophrenia

Häfner, Heinz; Heiden, Wolfram an der; Behrens, Stephan; Gattaz, Wagner F.; Hambrecht, Martin; Löffler, W.; Maurer, Kurt; Munk‐Jørgensen, Povl; Nowotny, B.; Riecher-Rössler, Anita; Stein, Aaron

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.schbul.a033317

Cited by 290 publications

(162 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

127

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In many cases, particularly in males, first onset occurs already before the age of twenty (Häfner et al, 1998b), so that early detection should start in late adolescence. The expense and effort of pre-selections via self-reports are disproportionately lower to extensive screening procedures using clinical interviews.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Self-screen-Prodrome as a short screening tool for pre-psychotic states

Müller

Vetter

Buchli-Kammermann

et al. 2010

Schizophrenia Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Early detection of psychosis is an important issue in current research. Early intervention helps to improve the outcome of the disorder. Therefore, a comprehensive examination in large populations, necessary as it might be, is economically almost not feasible. A screening via self-report is more practicable as it helps focus on individuals with high symptom loads. Results: Both groups (cases and non-cases) showed significant differences in their mean scores on SPro and ESI, although only the SPro had satisfactory effect sizes. In hierarchic logistic regression models the SPro turned out to be highly predictive for caseness while ESI scales were not significant. A cut-off score of ≥2 on the Spro subscale for psychotic risk (SPro-Psy-Risk) was found to identify caseness best with a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 61%. Conclusion:The SPro has proven to be a valid and very economic screening tool for general and prodromal pathology in large populations.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Self-screen-Prodrome as a short screening tool for pre-psychotic states

Müller

Vetter

Buchli-Kammermann

et al. 2010

Schizophrenia Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, a recent study (Talledo et al, 2009) found no direct relationship between PPI and estrogen levels in healthy women. Furthermore, within schizophrenia populations, a later age of illness onset, less severe forms of schizophrenia, superior response to antipsychotics, and better functional and social outcomes are reported for women than men with schizophrenia (Castle and Murray, 1991;Faraone et al, 1994;Castle et al, 1995), supposedly because of a neuroprotective role of estrogen in women (Häfner et al, 1998;Kulkarni, 2009). Female schizophrenia patients also show greater symptom severity during the periods of low estrogen (eg, postpartum) and lower symptom severity during the periods of high estrogen (eg, pregnancy, Riecher-Rössler et al, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for a Role of Progesterone in Menstrual Cycle-Related Variability in Prepulse Inhibition in Healthy Young Women

Kumari

Konstantinou

Papadopoulos

et al. 2009

Neuropsychopharmacol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response is sensitive to sex, with healthy young women showing less PPI compared with age-matched men, and varies according to the menstrual cycle phase in women. Relatively less is known regarding sex and hormonal influences in prepulse facilitation (PPF). Menstrual phase-related variability in PPI is suggested to be mediated by fluctuating estrogen level, based on the observations of more PPI in women during the follicular, relative to the luteal, phase. No study has directly assessed the relationship between fluctuating hormones and PPI or PPF levels over the human ovarian cycle. To examine the roles of circulating ovarian hormones in PPI and PPF, 16 non-smoking regularly menstruating healthy women were tested during both the follicular and luteal phases on PPI and PPF and provided saliva samples for measurement of 17b-estradiol (estrogen), progesterone and testosterone. The results showed higher levels of 17b-estradiol and progesterone during the luteal, relative to the follicular, phase; and more PPI during the follicular phase and more PPF during the luteal phase with comparable startle amplitude and habituation during the two phases. A larger increase in progesterone was associated with a smaller decrease in PPI from the follicular to the luteal phase. No significant associations were found between changes in PPI/PPF and estrogen levels. The findings confirm lower PPI during the luteal, compared with the follicular, phase and suggest a role for progesterone, more specifically an antipsychotic-like PPI-restoration action of progesterone, during the luteal phase in PPI of young women.

show abstract

“…For instance, certain aspects of cocaine taking and addiction are more severe in women including prevalence of cocaine dependence in adolescence (Kandel et al, 1997), age and severity of use at intake (Robbins et al, 1999), and cocaine-induced craving (Kosten et al, 1993;Robbins et al, 1999). In contrast to stimulant addiction, women are somewhat protected from Parkinson's disease relative to men (Bower et al, 1999;Baldereschi et al, 2000), and the age of onset of schizophrenia is about 6 years later in women than men (Lindamer et al, 1997;Hafner et al, 1998;Leung and Chue, 2000). This set of clinical findings suggests that underlying sex differences in dopaminergic function exist in humans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in Neurochemical Effects of Dopaminergic Drugs in Rat Striatum

Walker

Ray

Kuhn

2005

Neuropsychopharmacol

120

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous data indicate that dopamine neurotransmission is differently regulated in male and female rats. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the dopamine transporter and autoreceptor as potential loci responsible for this sex difference. Fast cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes was used to monitor changes in electrically evoked levels of extracellular dopamine in the striata of anesthetized male and female rats before and after administration of an uptake inhibitor, a dopamine D 2 antagonist, or a D 3 /D 2 agonist. Administration of 40 mg/kg cocaine ip increased electrically-evoked extracellular dopamine concentrations in both sexes, but to a significantly greater extent in female striatum at the higher stimulation frequencies. The typical antipsychotic, haloperidol, increased dopamine efflux in both sexes but the effect was twice as large in the female striatum. The D 3 /D 2 agonist quinpirole induced an unexpected, transient increase in dopamine efflux following high-frequency stimulation only in females, and evoked dopamine was higher in females across this entire time course. More detailed analysis of cocaine effects revealed no fundamental sex differences in the interaction of cocaine with DAT in vivo or in synaptosomes. These results indicate that nigrostriatal dopamine neurotransmission in the female rat is more tightly regulated by autoreceptor and transporter mechanisms, perhaps related by greater autoreceptor control of DAT activity. Thus, baseline sex differences in striatal dopamine regulation induce different pharmacologic responses. These results contribute to understanding sex differences in stimulant-induced locomotor activity in rats and may have broader implications for neurologic disorders and their pharmacotherapies in humans.

show abstract

Causes and Consequences of the Gender Difference in Age at Onset of Schizophrenia

Cited by 290 publications

References 52 publications

The Self-screen-Prodrome as a short screening tool for pre-psychotic states

The Self-screen-Prodrome as a short screening tool for pre-psychotic states

Evidence for a Role of Progesterone in Menstrual Cycle-Related Variability in Prepulse Inhibition in Healthy Young Women

Sex Differences in Neurochemical Effects of Dopaminergic Drugs in Rat Striatum

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About