Cognitive impairment and C-reactive protein in clinically stable schizophrenia outpatients: a focus on sex differences
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Dal Santo F
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7524709 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Background–objectivePrevalence data of cognitive impairment in Schizophrenia based on large population samples are scarce. Our goal is to relate cognition and functional outcomes, and estimate prevalence of cognitive impairment in a large sample of schizophrenia outpatients treated with second-generation antipsychotics.MethodA cross-sectional outpatient evaluation conducted during follow-up visits. Selection criteria included six-months stable treatment. The brief battery, EPICOG-SCH, covered four cognitive domains related to functional outcomes: working memory (WAIS-III-Letter-Number-Sequencing), executive function (Category Fluency Test; CFT), verbal memory (WMS-III-Logical-Memory), and information processing speed (Digit-Symbol-Coding and CFT). Clinical severity and functional impairment were assessed with CGI-SCH and WHO DAS-S. Impairment prevalence was calculated at ≤ 1.5 SD.ResultsAmong patients recruited (n = 848) in 234 participating centers, 672 were under 6-month treatment. 61.5% (n = 413) reported cognitive impairment according to CGI-SCH Cognitive Subscale. Estimated prevalences were 85.9% (95% CI 85.6-86.2%) CFT-Fruits; 68.3% (95% CI 67.8-68.8%) CFT-Animals; 38.1% (95% CI 37.5-38.3%) Digit-Symbol-Coding; 24.8% (95% CI 24.1-25.5%) Verbal Memory-Units; 20.9% (95% CI 20.2-21.6%) Letter-Number Sequencing; 11.7% (95% CI 11.0-12.4%) Verbal Memory-Items. Negative and Depressive symptoms, Deficit Syndrome, and functional disability were related to poor performance. Functional disability was predicted by CGI-SCH-Overall severity (OR = 1.34635, p < 0.0001), CGI-SCH-Negative Symptoms (OR = 0.75540, p < 0.0001), working memory (Letter-Number-Sequencing) (OR = - 0.16442, p = 0.0004) and the time-course (OR = 0.05083, p = 0.0094), explaining 47% of the observed variability.ConclusionMost prevalent impairments were on executive function and processing speed domains; however, working memory showed the strongest relationship to functional disability. Monitoring cognitive function during follow up is critical to understand patient's everyday functional capacity.
| S-EPMC5779297 | biostudies-literature
Project description:OBJECTIVE:We determined whether there are sex differences in the prevalence and profile of HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment, and whether sex moderates the effect of HIV-serostatus on neurocognitive impairment among HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. Secondarily, we assessed whether differences were explained by greater biopsychosocial risk factors in HIV-positive women. DESIGN:An observational cohort study. METHODS:Analyses included 1361 HIV-positive (204 women) and 702 HIV-negative (214 women) (ages?=?18-79 years) participants from the UCSD HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program. Demographically corrected standardized T-scores from 15 neuropsychological tests were used to calculate domain-specific and global deficit scores (GDS). GDS at least 0.5 defined neurocognitive impairment. Biopsychosocial risk factors included low education, low reading level (education quality), lifetime substance use disorders, depressed mood (clinically significant depressive symptoms and/or current major depressive disorder) and a cumulative syndemic count (sum of biopsychosocial risk factors, range?=?0-4). Race-stratified analyses were conducted. Analyses were adjusted for relevant demographic and clinical factors. RESULTS:HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment was more prevalent in women versus men; however, the difference was eliminated after adjustment for reading level. In sex-stratified logistic regressions, the association between HIV-seropositivity and higher likelihood of neurocognitive impairment was stronger in women versus men; however, the association was attenuated in women, but not men, after adjusting for reading level. These results in the overall sample were specific to blacks. Sex differences in the profile of HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment varied by race. CONCLUSION:Women, particularly black women, were most at-risk for HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment. Higher rates of HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment in women versus men may reflect differences in educational quality.
| S-EPMC6396274 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Studies have shown differences in specific cognitive ability domains and risk of Alzheimer's disease between the men and women at later age. However it is important to know that sex differences in cognitive function during adulthood may have their basis in both organizational effects, i.e., occurring as early as during the neuronal development period, as well as in activational effects, where the influence of the sex steroids influence brain function in adulthood. Further, the rate of cognitive decline with aging is also different between the sexes. Understanding the biology of sex differences in cognitive function will not only provide insight into Alzheimer's disease prevention, but also is integral to the development of personalized, gender-specific medicine. This review draws on epidemiological, translational, clinical, and basic science studies to assess the impact of sex differences in cognitive function from young to old, and examines the effects of sex hormone treatments on Alzheimer's disease in men and women.
| S-EPMC4087048 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Brief batteries in schizophrenia, are needed to screen for the cognitive impact of schizophrenia. We aimed to validate and co-norm the Epidemiological Study of Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia (EPICOG-SCH) derived brief cognitive battery. A cross-sectional outpatient evaluation was conducted of six-hundred-seventy-two patients recruited from 234 centers. The brief battery included well-known subtests available worldwide that cover cognitive domains related to functional outcomes: WAIS-III-Letter-Number-Sequencing-LNS, Category Fluency Test-CFT, Logical-Memory Immediate Recall-LM, and Digit-Symbol-Coding-DSC. CGI-SCH Severity and WHO-DAS-S were used to assess clinical severity and functional impairment, respectively. Unit Composite Score (UCS) and functional regression-weighted Composite Scores (FWCS) were obtained; discriminant properties of FWCS to identify patients with different levels of functional disability were analyzed using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) technique. The battery showed good internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha = 0.78. The differences between cognitive performance across CGI-SCH severity level subscales ranged from 0.5 to 1 SD. Discriminant capacity of the battery in identifying patients with up to moderate disability levels showed fair discriminant accuracy with areas under the curve (AUC) > 0.70, p < 0.0001. An FWCS mean cut-off score ? 100 showed likelihood ratios (LR) up to 4.7, with an LR + of 2.3 and a LR - of 0.5. An FWCS cut-off ? 96 provided the best balance between sensitivity (0.74) and specificity (0.62). The EPICOG-SCH proved to be a useful brief tool to screen for the cognitive impact of schizophrenia, and its regression-weighted Composite Score was an efficient complement to clinical interviews for confirming patients' potential functional outcomes and can be useful for monitoring cognition during routine outpatient follow-up visits.
| S-EPMC5514304 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesPersons with schizophrenia, and women in particular, are at high risk for sleep disturbances and inflammatory activation. The sleep-inflammation link has been reported to be stronger in women within the general population. This study sought to examine the sleep-inflammation link in persons with schizophrenia and its relationship with demographic, clinical and cognitive variables.DesignCross-sectional case-control study.ParticipantsCommunity-dwelling outpatients with schizophrenia (N=144, 46% women) and non-psychiatric comparison (NC) participants (N=134, 52% women), age 26-65 years.MeasurementsReported sleep disturbances (sleep quality and duration), and mental and physical health were assessed. Cognitive assessments included executive functioning (Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System) and global cognitive functioning (Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status - modified.) Inflammatory biomarkers included pro-inflammatory cytokines [high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP), Interleukin (IL)-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α)] and an anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10).ResultsThe schizophrenia group had longer sleep duration, worse sleep quality, and increased levels of hs-CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α compared to NCs. Women with schizophrenia were less likely to have good sleep quality and had elevated levels of hs-CRP and IL-6 compared to men with schizophrenia. In the schizophrenia group, worse sleep quality and global cognitive functioning were associated with higher hs-CRP and IL-6 levels. Female sex and younger age were also associated with higher hs-CRP levels.ConclusionsSleep disturbances and increased inflammation, which were common in schizophrenia, were associated in persons with schizophrenia. Moreover, women with schizophrenia had worse sleep quality and inflammation than men. Further examination of the sleep-inflammation links, their contribution to clinical outcomes, and sex-specific factors is warranted.
| S-EPMC6489497 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionWe aimed to establish sex differences in vascular brain damage of memory clinic patients with possible vascular cognitive impairment (VCI).MethodsA total of 860 memory clinic patients (aged 67.7 ± 8.5; 46% female) with cognitive complaints and vascular brain damage (ie, possible VCI) from the prospective TRACE-VCI (Utrecht-Amsterdam Clinical Features and Prognosis in Vascular Cognitive Impairment) cohort study with 2-year follow-up were included. Age-adjusted female-to-male differences were calculated with general linear models, for demographic variables, vascular risk factors, clinical diagnosis, cognitive performance, and brain magnetic resonance imaging markers.ResultsWe found no difference in age nor distribution of clinical diagnoses between females and males. Females performed worse on the MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination) and CAMCOG (Cognitive and Self-Contained Part of the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly). Females had a larger white matter hyperintensity volume, while males more often showed (lacunar) infarcts. There was no difference in microbleed prevalence. Males had smaller normalized total brain and gray matter volumes. During follow-up, occurrence of cognitive decline and institutionalization was comparable, but mortality was higher in males.DiscussionOur results suggest that susceptibility and underlying etiology of VCI might differ by sex. Males seem to have more large vessel brain damage compared to females that have more small vessel brain damage.
| S-EPMC7447910 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Suction of the left ventricle can lead to potentially life-threatening events in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients. With the resolution of currently available clinical LVAD monitoring healthcare professionals are unable to evaluate patients' suction occurrences in detail. This study investigates occurrences and durations of suction events and their associations with tachycardia in stable outpatients. Continuous high-resolution LVAD data from HVAD patients were analyzed in the early outpatient period for 15 days. A validated suction detection from LVAD signals was used. Suction events were evaluated as suction rates, bursts of consecutive suction beats, and clusters of suction beats. The occurrence of tachycardia was analyzed before, during, and after suction clusters. Furthermore, blood work, implant strategy, LVAD speed setting, inflow cannula position, left ventricular diameters, and adverse events were evaluated in these patients. LVAD data of 10 patients was analyzed starting at 78 ± 22 postoperative days. Individuals' highest suction rates per hour resulted in a median of 11% (range 3%-61%). Bursts categorized as consecutive suction beats with n = 2, n = 3-5, n = 6-15, and n > 15 beats were homogenously distributed with 10.3 ± 0.8% among all suction beats. Larger suction bursts were followed by shorter suction-free periods. Tachycardia during suction occurred in 12% of all suction clusters. Significant differences in clinical parameters between individuals with high and low suction rates were only observed in left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic diameters (P < .02). Continuous high-resolution LVAD monitoring sheds light on outpatient suction occurrences. Interindividual and intraindividual characteristics of longitudinal suction rates were observed. Longer suction clusters have higher probabilities of tachycardia within the cluster and more severe types of suction waveforms. This work shows the necessity of improved LVAD monitoring and the implementation of an LVAD speed control to reduce suction rates and their concomitant burden on the cardiovascular system.
| S-EPMC7318142 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveSex differences have been observed in many aspects of schizophrenia, including cognitive deficits. Despite extensive research into the relationship between metabolic factors and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, few studies have explored the potential sex difference in their association.MethodsWe recruited 358 schizophrenia patients and 231 healthy controls. The participants underwent measurements of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose. Metabolic risk factors included abdominal obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. A collection of these metabolic risk factors has been defined as metabolic syndrome. These diagnoses were based on the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III. Cognitive performance was measured using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). A descriptive analysis, difference analysis, and linear regression model were used to identify the metabolic risk factors for cognitive function in schizophrenia.ResultsOur findings revealed sex differences in the rate of abdominal obesity and hypertension in schizophrenic patients. Additionally, we observed sex differences in the association between metabolic risk factors and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Specifically, hyperglycemia was associated with the immediate memory index score of RBANS in male patients, while dyslipidemia was associated with language, attention, delayed memory index scores, and RBANS total score in female patients.ConclusionOur results suggest that sex should be considered when evaluating the impact of metabolic disorders on the cognitive function of schizophrenic patients. Moreover, our study identifies hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia as potential targets for precise treatment by sex stratification, which could benefit the improvement of cognitive impairment in schizophrenic patients.
| S-EPMC10620336 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The impacts of sex differences on the biology of various organ systems and the influences of sex hormones on modulating health and disease have become increasingly relevant in clinical and biomedical research. A growing body of evidence has recently suggested fundamental sex differences in cardiovascular and cognitive function, including anatomy, pathophysiology, incidence and age of disease onset, symptoms affecting disease diagnosis, disease severity, progression, and treatment responses and outcomes. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is currently recognized as the most prevalent sustained arrhythmia and might contribute to the pathogenesis and progression of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), including a range of cognitive deficits, from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. In this review, we describe sex-based differences and sex hormone functions in the physiology of the brain and vasculature and the pathophysiology of disorders therein, with special emphasis on AF and VCI. Deciphering how sex hormones and their receptor signaling (estrogen and androgen receptors) potentially impact on sex differences could help to reveal disease links between AF and VCI and identify therapeutic targets that may lead to potentially novel therapeutic interventions early in the disease course of AF and VCI.
| S-EPMC8396287 | biostudies-literature
Project description:INTRODUCTION:Identification of factors associated with progression of cognitive symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) is important for treatment planning, clinical care, and design of future clinical trials. The current study sought to identify whether prediction of cognitive progression is aided by examining baseline cognitive features, and whether this differs according to stage of cognitive disease. METHODS:Participants with PD in the Pacific Udall Center Clinical Consortium who had longitudinal data available and were nondemented at baseline were included in the study (n = 418). Logistic and Cox regression models were utilized to examine the relationship between cognitive, demographic, and clinical variables with risk and time to progression from no cognitive impairment to mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) or dementia (PDD), and from PD-MCI to PDD. RESULTS:Processing speed (OR = 1.05, p = 0.009) and working memory (OR = 1.01, p = 0.03) were associated with conversion to PDD among those with PD-MCI at baseline, over and above demographic variables. Conversely, the primary predictive factor in the transition from no cognitive impairment to PD-MCI or PDD was male sex (OR = 4.47, p = 0.004), and males progressed more rapidly than females (p = 0.01). Further, among females with shorter disease duration, progression was slower than for their male counterparts, and poor baseline performance on semantic verbal fluency was associated with shorter time to cognitive impairment in females but not in males. CONCLUSIONS:This study provides evidence for sex differences in the progression to cognitive impairment in PD, while specific cognitive features become more important indicators of progression with impending conversion to PDD.
| S-EPMC5943177 | biostudies-literature