ORCID Profile
0000-0002-6513-5454
Current Organisations
Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley
,
University of Cambridge
,
University of Oxford
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Publications
Inverse association between negative symptoms and body mass index in chronic schizophrenia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCHRES.2017.04.002
Abstract: We investigated whether negative symptoms, such as poor motivation or anhedonia, were associated with higher body mass index (BMI) in stable patients with schizophrenia chronically treated with antipsychotic medication. 62 olanzapine- or clozapine-treated patients with illness duration of at least four years were selected from an international multicenter study on the characterization of negative symptoms. All participants completed the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Bivariate correlations between BMI and negative symptoms (BNSS) were explored, as well as multiple regression analyses. We further explored the association of two principal component factors of the BNSS and BMI. Subsidiary analyses re-modeled the above using the negative symptoms subscale of the PANSS and the EMSLEY factor for negative symptoms for convergent validity. Lower negative symptoms (BNSS score) were associated with higher BMI (r=-0.31 p=0.015). A multiple regression analysis showed that negative symptoms (BNSS score) and age were significant predictors of BMI (p=0.037). This was mostly driven by the motivation leasure factor of the BNSS. Within this second factor, BMI was negatively associated with anhedonia (r=-0.254 p=0.046) and asociality (r=-0.253 p=0.048), but not avolition (r=-0.169 p=0.188). EMSLEY score was positively associated with BNSS (r=0.873, p<0.001), but negatively associated with BMI (r=-0.308 p=0.015). The association between PANSS and BMI did not reach significance (r=-224, p=0.080). We conclude that lower negative symptoms were associated with higher BMI (assessed using both the BNSS and EMSLEY) in chronic stable schizophrenia patients, mostly due to lower anhedonia and asociality levels.
Influence of secondary sources in the Brief Negative Symptom Scale
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
Association of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met polymorphism with negative symptoms severity, but not cognitive function, in first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 10-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.EURPSY.2016.04.011
Abstract: A functional polymorphism of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene ( BDNF ) Val66Met has been associated with cognitive function and symptom severity in patients with schizophrenia. It has been suggested that the Val66Met polymorphism has a role as a modulator in a range of clinical features of the illness, including symptoms severity, therapeutic responsiveness, age of onset, brain morphology and cognitive function. However, little work has been done in first-episode schizophrenia (FES) spectrum disorders. The objective of this study is to investigate the association of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on cognitive function and clinical symptomatology in FES patients. Using a cross-sectional design in a cohort of 204 patients with FES or a schizophrenia spectrum disorder and 204 healthy matched controls, we performed BDNF Val66Met genotyping and tested its relationship with cognitive testing (attention, working memory, learning/verbal memory and reasoning roblem-solving) and assessment of clinical symptom severity. There was no significant influence of the BDNF allele frequency on cognitive factor scores in either patients or controls. An augmented severity of negative symptoms was found in FES patients that carried the Met allele. The results of this study suggest that in patients with a first-episode of schizophrenia or a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism does not exert an influence on cognitive functioning, but is associated with negative symptoms severity. BDNF may serve as suitable marker of negative symptomatology severity in FES patients within the schizophrenia spectrum.
Related Organisations
Institute Of Psychiatry At The Maudsley
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
University Of Cambridge
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
University Of Oxford
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Related Funding Activities
No related grants have been discovered for George Savulich.