Schizophrenia is a devastating mental illness that can lead to deterioration in the social and occupational functioning of affected individuals with a major cost to society. A wide range of studies suggest a genetic component to the inheritance of schizophrenia. The molecular genetic studies on schizophrenia have been actively performed since late 1980s. In linkage studies, no loci were replicated across studies and there were no loci surpassing genome-wide significance. Candidate gene association studies showed generally inconsistent results and there were no enrichment of smaller P-values. In the GWAS era, the community has coalesced into large international consortia. The largest schizophrenia GWAS to date is 50,000 samples and efforts are ongoing to accumulate 50,000 cases and 50,000 controls as part of 'PGC2' collaboration. With the limitation of GWAS results, several alternatives are being explored. In genotyping, the concepts of allelic spectrum including from common polygenic to rare penetrant variation are emerging. Phenotypes include all phenomena beyond DNA. The developments in transcriptomic & proteomic approach and intensive research on endophenotype will bring crucial insights into the nature of schizophrenia in the future. But there still remains our task about research on many factors including environment that influence gene expression (epigenetics), age, and gender.
Cooperative Behavior ; DNA ; Endophenotypes ; Epigenomics ; Gene Expression ; Genetic Association Studies ; Molecular Biology ; Phenotype ; Schizophrenia ; Wills

BACKGROUND: Kinovea software that tracking semi-automatically the motion in video screen has been used to study motion-related tasks in several studies. However, the validation of this software in open field test to assess locomotor activity have not been studied yet. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of this software in analyzing locomotor activities. METHODS: Thirty male Institute Cancer Research mice were subjected in this study. The results examined by this software and the classical method were compared. Test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability were analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The validity of this software was analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: This software showed good test-retest reliability (ICC=0.997, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.975–0.994, p < 0.001). This software also showed good inter-rater reliability (ICC=0.987, 95% CI=0.973–0.994, p < 0.001). Furthermore, in three analyses for the validity of this software, there were significant correlations between two methods (Pearson's correlation coefficient=0.928–0.972, p < 0.001). In addition, this software showed good reliability and validity in the analysis locomotor activity according to time interval. CONCLUSION This study showed that this software in analyzing drug-induced locomotor activity has good reliability and validity. This software can be effectively used in animal study using the analysis of locomotor activity.

Several studies have reported that melatonin may be effective in treating sleep problems in children and adolescents. However, evidence regarding the safety of melatonin use in children and adolescents in their growth and developmental stages is warranted. Therefore, we aimed to summarize the literature on the safety of melatonin use in children and adolescents with insomnia and sleep disturbances. According to existing evidence, there are no serious adverse effects of long-term melatonin use in children and adolescents. The common adverse effects reported in long-term studies are fatigue, somnolence, and mood swings. In addition, there is no evidence that long-term use of melatonin inhibits the natural secretion of melatonin. It is necessary to monitor potential drug interactions with medications such as inhibitors and enhancers of cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2). Furthermore, low CYP1A2 expression in young children requires proper dose adjustment. Although sufficient experience of melatonin use in children and adolescents has yet to be attained, accumulating evidence suggests that the use of melatonin in children and adolescents with sleep problems might be effective and tolerable. Considering the abuse or overdose risk of hypnotics or benzodiazepines, melatonin supplements may be a good therapeutic alternative. Future studies on the long-term safety of melatonin for physiological and mental function in children and adolescents are required to establish certainty about melatonin use in children and adolescents.

Development of various antidepressants such as monoamine oxidase inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant has led to a tremendous progression of pharmaceutical treatment for depression, but still there are some limitations of current antidepressants, such as treatment-resistant depression and delayed onset of antidepressants. The pathogenesis of depression is unclear because depression is a heterogeneous disease state, and the mechanisms of antidepressants remain uncertain as well. Nevertheless, in an attempt to develop novel antidepressants, some trials have been conducted based on the potential biological mechanism discovered in the numerous research results. This review will provide information about the potential novel antidepressants and the current states of clinical studies using them. In particular, some potential novel antidepressants anti-inflammatory agents, antioxidants, anticholinergics, modulators of Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal Axis, glutamate, and opioid systems, as well as some neuropeptides such as susbstance P, neuropeptide Y, and galanin will be discussed.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; Antidepressive Agents ; Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic ; Antioxidants ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Cholinergic Antagonists ; Depression* ; Depressive Disorder ; Drug Therapy ; Galanin ; Glutamic Acid ; Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors ; Neuropeptide Y ; Neuropeptides ; Norepinephrine ; Serotonin ; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors

no abstract available.

The abnormalities caused by the melatonergic system have been associated with psychiatric disorders, such as Alzheimer’s dementia and schizophrenia, as well as with the pathogenesis of mood disorders. Abnormal melatonin secretion has been observed in the early phase of mood disorders in young patients and high-risk adults. This review summarizes and discusses the findings of studies that have investigated the melatonergic system in children, adolescents, and young adults with mood disorders. Furthermore, the factors associated with the changes caused by the melatonergic system during the early stage of mood disorders are evaluated.

Recently, melatonergic agents have been gaining much interest in the treatment of mood disorders. The elucidation of the underlying biological mechanisms related to the melatonergic system in mood disorders is warranted to ensure the proper use of melatonergic agents. Changes of the melatonergic system have been investigated in several studies of patients with bipolar disorder (BP) and depression. Accumulating evidence has indicated that patients with BP might exhibit abnormal melatonin secretion patterns, increased light-induced melatonin suppression, altered pineal gland volume, genetically abnormal melatonin synthesis enzyme, and modified melatonin receptors. In this review, the findings of studies performed to explore the association between the melatonergic system and BP are discussed. Moreover, the interpretations and limitations of these findings are described.
Bipolar Disorder ; Depression ; Humans ; Melatonin ; Mood Disorders ; Pineal Gland ; Receptors, Melatonin

BACKGROUND: Kinovea software that tracking semi-automatically the motion in video screen has been used to study motion-related tasks in several studies. However, the validation of this software in open field test to assess locomotor activity have not been studied yet. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of this software in analyzing locomotor activities.METHODS: Thirty male Institute Cancer Research mice were subjected in this study. The results examined by this software and the classical method were compared. Test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability were analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The validity of this software was analyzed with Pearson's correlation coefficient.RESULTS: This software showed good test-retest reliability (ICC=0.997, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.975–0.994, p < 0.001). This software also showed good inter-rater reliability (ICC=0.987, 95% CI=0.973–0.994, p < 0.001). Furthermore, in three analyses for the validity of this software, there were significant correlations between two methods (Pearson's correlation coefficient=0.928–0.972, p < 0.001). In addition, this software showed good reliability and validity in the analysis locomotor activity according to time interval.CONCLUSION: This study showed that this software in analyzing drug-induced locomotor activity has good reliability and validity. This software can be effectively used in animal study using the analysis of locomotor activity.
Animals ; Humans ; Male ; Methods ; Mice ; Motor Activity ; Reproducibility of Results

In the field of psychiatry, studies on circadian rhythms are increasing. This research trend is based on the emerging evidence on the relationship between circadian rhythm and pathophysiology and prognosis of psychiatric disorders.As performing the research on this area, the difficulty in analyzing large amount of data that are sequentially collected according to time change exists. In order to properly analyze the data in research on the circadian rhythm, it is necessary to effectively apply analysis methods of time series data. Therefore, this review aimed to summarize the analysis methods of circadian rhythms that show time series data. Understanding the analysis method of circadian rhythm will be useful for utilizing clinical data in the form of a time series data in the smart medical field in the future.

The circadian rhythms have been gradually important in psychiatric field. Several studies have shown that major psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and dementia, were highly associated with the abnormalities of circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms might have an influence on the pathogenesis and prognosis of psychiatric disorders. Understanding the impact of circadian rhythms on psychiatric disorders became crucial to psychiatrists. Therefore, this review investigated the types of the circadian rhythms to be used in psychiatric field. The measurement of circadian rhythms were performed by several ways, such as sleep diary, self-reported scales, heart rate, heart rate variability, polysomnography, electroencephalography, actigraphy, melatonin, cortisol. Using these data related to circadian rhythms might be utilized to evaluate the relevance of the pathogenesis in psychiatric disorders and predict the treatment response and prognosis of illness. Furthermore, if the real-time monitoring of circadian rhythms is possible, the novel diagnostic and therapeutic model using circadian rhythms could be applied in psychiatric area.