The neural mechanisms underlying genetic risk for schizophrenia, a highly heritable psychiatric condition, are still under investigation. New schizophrenia risk genes discovered through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), such as neurogranin (NRGN), can be used to identify these mechanisms. In this study we examined the association of two common NRGN risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with functional and structural brain-based intermediate phenotypes for schizophrenia. We obtained structural, functional MRI and genotype data of 92 schizophrenia patients and 114 healthy volunteers from the multisite Mind Clinical Imaging Consortium study. Two schizophrenia-associated NRGN SNPs (rs12807809 and rs12541) were tested for association with working memory-elicited dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity and surface-wide cortical thickness. NRGN rs12541 risk allele homozygotes (TT) displayed increased working memory-related activity in several brain regions, including the left DLPFC, left insula, left somatosensory cortex and the cingulate cortex, when compared to non-risk allele carriers. NRGN rs12807809 non-risk allele (C) carriers showed reduced cortical gray matter thickness compared to risk allele homozygotes (TT) in an area comprising the right pericalcarine gyrus, the right cuneus, and the right lingual gyrus. Our study highlights the effects of schizophrenia risk variants in the NRGN gene on functional and structural brain-based intermediate phenotypes for schizophrenia. These results support recent GWAS findings and further implicate NRGN in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia by suggesting that genetic NRGN risk variants contribute to subtle changes in neural functioning and anatomy that can be quantified with neuroimaging methods.

No description available.

No description available.

Background Polypharmacy is often prescribed for bipolar disorder, yet medication non-adherence remains a serious problem. This study investigated the regularity in the daily dosage taken of mood stabilizers and second generation antipsychotics. Methods Daily self-reported data on medications taken and mood were available from 241 patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder who received treatment as usual. Patients who took the same mood stabilizer or second generation antipsychotic for ≥ 100 days were included. Approximate entropy was used to determine serial regularity in daily dosage taken. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate if demographic or clinical variables were associated with regularity. Results There were 422 analysis periods available from the 241 patients. Patients took drugs on 84.4% of days. Considerable irregularity was found, mostly due to single-day omissions and dosage changes. Drug holidays (missing 3 or more consecutive days) were found in 35.8% of the analysis periods. Irregularity was associated with an increasing total number of psychotropic drugs taken (p = 0.009), the pill burden (p = 0.026), and the percent of days depressed (p = 0.049). Conclusion Despite low missing percent of days, daily drug dosage may be irregular primarily due to single day omissions and dosage changes. Drug holidays are common. Physicians should expect to see partial adherence in clinical practice, especially with complex drug regimens. Daily dosage irregularity may impact the continuity of drug action, contribute to individual variation in treatment response, and needs further study.

Ce projet de recherche, réalisé sous la direction de la Dre Leila Ben Amor et la co-direction du Dr Emmanuel Stip, fut possible avec le soutient de la Bourse Daoussis du Département de psychiatrie, de la Faculté de médecine de l’Université de Montréal. / Les antipsychotiques de seconde génération (ASG) peuvent induire des changements métaboliques, tels la prise de poids, la perturbation du métabolisme des glucides et la dyslipidémie. Dans la population pédiatrique, les études analysant les effets métaboliques secondaires à une poly-thérapie par ASG (changement d’ASG et/ou combinaison de deux ASG) sont très rares et à notre connaissance, jusqu’à présent, aucune étude naturalistique n’a comparé directement ces effets selon l’utilisation des ASG en monothérapie (un seul ASG prescrit à la fois) ou en poly-thérapie. L’objectif de cette étude rétrospective est de comparer les changements métaboliques secondaires aux ASG en monothérapie avec ceux des ASG en poly-thérapie. À cet effet, de 147 enfants et adolescents naïfs d’antipsychotiques (âge moyen 12.8 ans ; IC 95% 9.8 à 15.9) sélectionnés entre novembre 2005 et juin 2013, 116 (78.9%) ont reçu des ASG en monothérapie et 31 (21.1%) en poly-thérapie. Nous avons analysé, à l’aide du modèle linéaire mixte, la variation du poids, de l’indice de masse corporelle ajusté pour l’âge et le sexe (IMC-z) et de la glycémie à jeun entre les deux groupes de traitement par ASG, avec le facteur répétitif le temps, relatif au niveau prétraitement et après 1, 3, 6, 12 et 24 mois de suivi. Nos résultats démontrent que le type de thérapie par ASG (monothérapie ou poly-thérapie) n’a pas eu d’impact significatif sur les changements métaboliques entre les deux groupes. Au total, après 24 mois de traitement par ASG, nos résultats montrent une augmentation significative de la moyenne du poids de 12.8 kg (IC 95% 10.4 à 15.0), de l’IMC-z de 0.44 (IC 95% 0.21 à 0.68) et de la glycémie à jeun de 0.29 mmol/L (IC 95% 0.11 à 0.47). L’incidence d’embonpoint/obésité fut de 22.6%, l’augmentation de plus que 0.5 de l’IMC-z de 9.4%, celle de l’intolérance au glucose de 9.6% et celle de diabète de type II de 3.1%. En conclusion, notre étude confirme le risque significatif de complications métaboliques durant le traitement sur 24 mois par ASG, sans différence significative entre leur utilisation en monothérapie ou en poly-thérapie. / Second generation antipsychotics (SGA) can induce metabolic changes such as weight gain, glucose abnormalities and dyslipidemia. In the pediatric population, studies analysing the SGA polytherapy (switch of SGA and/or combination of two SGA) induced metabolic effects are scarce and, to our knowledge, no naturalistic study, until now, directly compared metabolic changes between the SGA monotherapy (a single SGA prescribed during the follow-up) and SGA polytherapy use. The objective of this retrospective study is to compare SGA monotherapy induced metabolic changes to those secondary to SGA polytherapy. To this end, from 147 antipsychotic-naïve children and adolescents (mean age 12.8 years; 95% CI 9.8 to 15.9) selected between November 2005 and June 2013, 116 (78.9%) received a SGA monotherapy and 31 (21.1%) a SGA polytherapy. We used the linear mixed model to compare weight, body mass index adjusted for age and sex (BMI z score) and fasting glucose changes between the two SGA treatment groups with the repeated factor the time relative to baseline at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months. Our results show that the type of therapy (monotherapy or polytherapy) did not have a significant impact on the metabolic changes between the two groups. Overall, after 24 months of SGA treatment, mean weight increased significantly by 12.8 kg (95% CI 10.4 to 15.0), BMI z score by 0.44 (95% CI 0.21 to 0.68), fasting glucose levels by 0.29 mmol/l (95% CI 0.11 to 0.47). Incidence of overweight/obese was 22.6%, BMI z score increase over 0.5 was 9.4%, glucose intolerance was 9.4% and type II diabetes was 3.1%. In conclusion, our study confirms the significant risk of metabolic complications during 24 months SGA treatment, without a significant difference between monotherapy and polytherapy use.

No description available.

The neural mechanisms underlying genetic risk for schizophrenia, a highly heritable psychiatric condition, are still under investigation. New schizophrenia risk genes discovered through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), such as neurogranin (NRGN), can be used to identify these mechanisms. In this study we examined the association of two common NRGN risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with functional and structural brain-based intermediate phenotypes for schizophrenia. We obtained structural, functional MRI and genotype data of 92 schizophrenia patients and 114 healthy volunteers from the multisite Mind Clinical Imaging Consortium study. Two schizophrenia-associated NRGN SNPs (rs12807809 and rs12541) were tested for association with working memory-elicited dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity and surface-wide cortical thickness. NRGN rs12541 risk allele homozygotes (TT) displayed increased working memory-related activity in several brain regions, including the left DLPFC, left insula, left somatosensory cortex and the cingulate cortex, when compared to non-risk allele carriers. NRGN rs12807809 non-risk allele (C) carriers showed reduced cortical gray matter thickness compared to risk allele homozygotes (TT) in an area comprising the right pericalcarine gyrus, the right cuneus, and the right lingual gyrus. Our study highlights the effects of schizophrenia risk variants in the NRGN gene on functional and structural brain-based intermediate phenotypes for schizophrenia. These results support recent GWAS findings and further implicate NRGN in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia by suggesting that genetic NRGN risk variants contribute to subtle changes in neural functioning and anatomy that can be quantified with neuroimaging methods.

Background Polypharmacy is often prescribed for bipolar disorder, yet medication non-adherence remains a serious problem. This study investigated the regularity in the daily dosage taken of mood stabilizers and second generation antipsychotics. Methods Daily self-reported data on medications taken and mood were available from 241 patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder who received treatment as usual. Patients who took the same mood stabilizer or second generation antipsychotic for ≥ 100 days were included. Approximate entropy was used to determine serial regularity in daily dosage taken. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate if demographic or clinical variables were associated with regularity. Results There were 422 analysis periods available from the 241 patients. Patients took drugs on 84.4% of days. Considerable irregularity was found, mostly due to single-day omissions and dosage changes. Drug holidays (missing 3 or more consecutive days) were found in 35.8% of the analysis periods. Irregularity was associated with an increasing total number of psychotropic drugs taken (p = 0.009), the pill burden (p = 0.026), and the percent of days depressed (p = 0.049). Conclusion Despite low missing percent of days, daily drug dosage may be irregular primarily due to single day omissions and dosage changes. Drug holidays are common. Physicians should expect to see partial adherence in clinical practice, especially with complex drug regimens. Daily dosage irregularity may impact the continuity of drug action, contribute to individual variation in treatment response, and needs further study.

Les antipsychotiques de seconde génération (ASG) peuvent induire des effets métaboliques tels qu’une prise de poids, des troubles cardio-métaboliques, des effets endocriniens et dans de très rares cas une mort soudaine d’origine cardiaque. Les effets indésirables métaboliques potentiels des ASG doivent être surveillés. L’Alliance canadienne pour la surveillance de l’efficacité et de l’innocuité des antipsychotiques (CAMESA) propose des lignes directrices à cet effet. Les objectifs de cette étude rétrospective sont d’évaluer, à long terme, les taux d’enfants et d’adolescents recevant pour la première fois un ASG bénéficiant d’un monitoring dans les cliniques de santé mentale et de documenter les facteurs qui peuvent les influencer. À cet effet, les dossiers médicaux de 180 enfants et adolescents (âge moyen 13,3 ± 3,1 ans, 54,4 % garçons), traités pour la première fois par ASG entre janvier 2016 et juin 2018, ont été examinés. Les périodes de monitoring ont été divisées en baseline, de 1 à 6 et de 9 à 24 mois. La population étudiée a été stratifiée en enfants (4- 12 ans) vs adolescents (13-18 ans). Les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, le diagnostic psychiatrique et les comorbidités, les types d’ASG et les comédications prescrites, les mesures anthropométriques (MA), la pression artérielle (PA), les bilans sanguins (BS), l’électrocardiogramme (ECG) et les années de pratique du psychiatre ont été collectés. Des tableaux croisés ont été utilisés pour présenter les taux de monitoring. Les catégories ont été comparées par analyse de co-variable. Les taux de patients monitorés ont été comparés à travers les catégories de monitoring, en ayant recours au test exact de Fisher. Nos résultats démontrent des taux de monitoring pour MA, BS et PA de : 55 %, 47,8 % et 46,7 % au baseline ; 50 %, 41,7 % et 45,2 % à 1-6 mois ; et 47,2 %, 41,5 % et 40,6 % à 9-24 mois, respectivement. Des taux de monitoring plus élevés étaient associés de manière significative au statut d’adolescent (MA, BS et PA au baseline ; MA et PA à 1-6 mois), à un diagnostic de trouble psychotique et / ou affectif (MA, BS et PA au baseline ; MA et PA à 1-6 mois; BS à 9-24 mois), avoir ≤ 1 comorbidités psychiatriques (BS à 1-6 mois), et à l’expérience du clinicien (BS et ECG à 1-6 mois). En conclusion, cinq ans après les recommandations de CAMESA, le monitoring métabolique est effectué chez moins de la moitié des patients et diminue tout au long de la durée du traitement. Dans notre échantillon, les catégories d’âge, de diagnostic, de comorbidités psychiatriques et d’expérience du clinicien ont influencé les taux de monitoring. Toutefois, des progrès importants doivent encore être réalisés pour parvenir à un taux de monitoring satisfaisant. / Second generation antipsychotics (SGA) can induce metabolic effects such as weight gain, cardiometabolic disorders, endocrine effects and in very rare cases sudden cardiac death. The potential metabolic side effects of second generation antipsychotics need to be monitored. The Canadian Alliance for Monitoring the Efficacy and Safety of Antipsychotics (CAMESA) offers guidelines for this purpose. The objectives of this retrospective study are to evaluate, the long-term rates of youths receiving monitoring in mental health clinics and document the factors that may influence them. To this end, the charts of 180 children and adolescents (average age 13.3 ± 3.1 years, 54.4 % males) receiving SGA treatment for the first time between January 2016 and June 2018 were reviewed. Monitoring was divided into baseline and 1 to 6 and 9 to 24-month periods. The population under study was stratified into children (4-12 years) vs adolescents (13-18 years). Sociodemographic characteristics, psychiatric diagnosis and comorbidities, prescribed SGAs and comedications, anthropometric measurements (AM), blood pressure (BP), blood tests (BT), electrocardiogram (ECG) and the psychiatrist’s years of practice were collected. Cross tables were used to present the monitoring rates. Categories were compared by covariate analysis. Rates of patients monitored across categories were compared using Fisher’s exact test. Our results show that monitoring rates for AM, BT, and BP were: 55 %, 47.8 %, and 46.7 % at baseline, 50 %, 41.7 %, and 45.2 % at 1 to 6 months, and 47.2 %, 41.5 %, and 40.6 % at 9 to 24 months, respectively. Higher monitoring rates were significantly associated with adolescent status vs child (baseline AM, BT, and BP; 1-6-month AM and BP), a diagnosis of psychotic and/or affective disorder (baseline AM, BT, and BP; 1-6-month AM and BP; 9-24-month BT), having ≤ 1 psychiatric comorbidities (1-6-month BT), and clinician’s experience (1-6-month BT and ECG). In conclusion, five years after publication of the CAMESA guidelines, metabolic monitoring is conducted for less than half of patients and decreases over time. In our sample, age, diagnostic category, psychiatric comorbidities, and clinician’s experience influenced the monitoring rates. Major progress still needs to be made before reaching a satisfactory level of monitoring.

Objectif : La mortalité précoce chez la population psychiatrique, notamment atteinte de schizophrénie, est un phénomène fort étayé dans la littérature médicale et l’exposition aux antipsychotiques a été postulée pour expliquer, en partie, celle-ci. À notre connaissance, aucune étude ne s’est intéressée à la mortalité précoce auprès des utilisateurs de clozapine. L’objectif de cette étude est l’exploration des causes spécifiques de la mortalité précoce chez ceux-ci, dont la mortalité subite, inattendue et d’origine indéterminée, et de leurs caractéristiques au moment du décès. Méthodologie : Le devis est de type non expérimental, rétrospectif et descriptif par séries de cas. La population à l’étude est constituée de sujets âgés entre 18 et 64 ans utilisateurs de clozapine au moment du décès. Des variables sociodémographiques, psychiatriques, médicales, pharmacologiques et en lien avec la cause, l’origine et les circonstances du décès, incluant l’autopsie, ont été analysées. Résultats : L’échantillon est composé de 100 sujets pour lesquels 67 ont fait l’objet d’une autopsie. L’âge moyen au moment du décès est de 47,4 ans (écart-type de 9,1 ans). La principale cause de mortalité est la mort subite, inattendue et d’origine indéterminée (n = 63; 63,0%). Si une origine naturelle est déterminée, elle est d’abord pulmonaire (n = 11; 37,9%), principalement en lien avec la pneumonie (n = 8; 72,7%). Une association significative entre la mort subite, inattendue et d’origine indéterminée, et le diagnostic de schizophrénie (valeur-p = 0,022), la dyslipidémie (valeur-p = 0,003) et la plage horaire de la survenue du décès (valeur-p = 0,020) est observée. La majorité, s’élevant à 53,5%, des individus décédés d’une mort subite, inattendue et d’origine indéterminée, dont la nature indéterminée est confirmée par l’autopsie, survient la nuit. Conclusion : La mort subite, inattendue et d’origine indéterminée est la principale cause de mortalité auprès des utilisateurs de clozapine. Elle est associée au diagnostic de schizophrénie et à la plage horaire de la survenue du décès, dont la prépondérance s’avère nocturne, à l’instar de la mort subite chez les épileptiques, appelée Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Déclaration d’intérêt : Aucun. / Objective: Early mortality is associated to psychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia. Antipsychotics may explain, at least partly, this phenomenon. To our knowledge, there is no literature regarding early mortality among clozapine users. The purpose of this study is to explore the causes of early mortality among these individuals, including sudden, unexpected, and undetermined death, and their related characteristics. Methodology: This study is a non-experimental, retrospective and descriptive case series. The population is aged from 18 to 64 years old and used clozapine at the time of their death. Sociodemographic, psychiatric, medical, pharmacological variables and others related to the cause, origin and circumstances of the death, including autopsy, were analyzed. Results: The sample size is 100 participants. Of these, 67 were autopsied. The mean age at the time of death is 47,4 years (+/- 9,1 years). The leading cause of death is sudden, unexpected death of undetermined origin (n = 63, 63,0%). If a natural origin is determined, it is primarily related to a pulmonary disorder (n = 11; 37,9%), mainly pneumonia (n = 8, 72,7%). A significant association between sudden, unexpected, and undetermined death, and the diagnosis of schizophrenia (p-value = 0,022), dyslipidemia (p-value = 0,003), and time slot of occurrence of death (p-value = 0,020) is observed. Fifty-three percent of patients with sudden unexpected death of undetermined origin, meaning a medical cause could not be identified following an autopsy, died during their sleep or at night. Conclusion: Sudden, unexpected and undetermined death is the leading cause of death among clozapine users. It is associated with schizophrenia and the time slot of the occurrence of death, whose preponderance is nocturnal, as Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is. Declaration of interest: None.