(C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of IgG and IgM anticardiolipin

antibodies GW3965 price (aCL) in schizophrenic patients and to determine the relation of aCL levels with neuroleptic medication and psychotic symptoms. Twenty-three patients with acute episodes of chronic schizophrenia, drug-free for at least 3 months before entering the study, were tested for aCL at admission (T1) and 42 days (T2) after neuroleptic treatment started. Blood samples were taken from 20 healthy volunteers as well. Diagnosis was performed according to DSM-IV. Serum samples were analysed for IgG and IgM autoantibodies against beta2-glycoprotein-1-cardiolipin complex by commercially available ELISA kits (Binding-site, Selinexor clinical trial UK). Significantly higher levels of aCL antibodies of both isotypes were found in schizophrenic patients versus controls. In patients IgM-aCL positivity was significantly more frequent than in controls. The elevated IgM-aCL and IgG-aCL values were not associated with neuroleptic treatment and psychotic symptoms, as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Pentagonal Structural Model of Schizophrenic Symptoms. The negative correlation of IgM-aCL and IgG-aCL with the positive symptoms scale and the autistic preoccupation scale (Pentagonal Structural Model) may indicate the

consumption of these antibodies in the exacerbation enough of the disease. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Gene therapy is a promising therapeutic tool for Parkinson’s disease (PD), but there is a lack of evaluated cell specific promoters that are relevant for the disease. We have chosen PD relevant promoter candidates for gene therapy vectors based on either previous studies: Drd1a, Drd2 and pDyn, or from a microarray study on parkinsonian patients; ACE, DNAJC3, GALNS, MAP1a and RNF25. These candidates have been evaluated

in rat striatum to determine their suitability for use in cell specific vectors. The promoters had a neuronal specificity of 91-100%. The efficiency of the promoters was variable, but RNF25, DNAJC3 and MAP1a were comparable to widely used ubiquitous promoters. MAP1a was also affected by dopamine depletion. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Schizophrenia may be associated with inflammatory reactions and C-reactive protein (CRP) is a nonspecific serum protein marker for persisting inflammatory states. This study aimed to assess concentrations of high sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) in schizophrenic Arab patients and evaluate the relationships of hsCRP levels with aspects of clinical phenotypes of the disease. Two age-matched groups of subjects were studied: (1) healthy controls, HC, n = 165; (2) patients with schizophrenia, SZ: n = 207.