Clinical Care

Clinical Care should always be based on UP-to-DATE CLINICAL KNOWLEDGE. EMMA is committed to divulge rapidly all novel discoveries in the field of mind and metabolism, with a special regard on ADHD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Tourette Syndrome.

Apr 28, 2009 - Altered anandamide degradation in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. by Centonze D., ..., Curatolo P., Maccarrone M. on Neurology.

ADHD : suggested multiple susceptibility genes

Guan et al., Molecular Psychiatry (2009) 14, 546–554 To read click hereof page

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood-onset behavioral disorder with a definite genetic component. The search for genes predisposing to ADHD has focused on genes involved in the regulation of monoamine systems. In this study, we emphasized genes that underlie various aspects of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin neurotransmissions and performed a comprehensive association analysis by screening with 245 single-nucleotide poly-morphisms (SNPs) of 23 candidate genes in a sample of Chinese Han descent. A total of 182 DSM-IV ADHD children and 184 healthy controls were genotyped and analyzed with an average density of one SNP every 6.1 kb. Both single-SNP and multi-marker haplotype analyses were implemented to exploit association signal for ADHD and its diagnostic subtypes. Empirical P-values were derived on the basis of 5000 permutations to evaluate gene-wide significance. MAOA yielded highly suggestive evidence of association (empirical P<0.01, OR=1.94) with ADHD. For inattentive-subtype ADHD, MAOA, DDC and SYP showed suggestive evidence of a quite strong association (empirical P<0.05). ADRA2C achieved suggestive significance (empirical P<0.05) for ADHD combined type. Additionally, and most interestingly, for six genes (i.e. SNAP25, NET1, DBH, CHRNA4,DRD3 and SYT1) we detected one or more SNPs with nominal P-values0.05. This study has identified several genes as promising susceptibility loci for ADHD. Replication efforts and further investigations remain necessary to provide definite proof of association.

Volume 65 (1 April 2009) of "Biological Psychiatry" is entirely devoted to ADHD :
click here to read Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: From Circuit Dysfunction to Novel Treatments

March 20, 2009. Future of endocannabinoid-oriented clinical research after CB(1) antagonists. Le Foll B, Gorelick DA, Goldberg SR. Psychopharmacology [Epub ahead of print]

INTRODUCTION: Great interest has been shown by the medical community and the public in the cannabinoid CB(1) receptor antagonists, such as rimonabant, for treatment of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and possibly drug addiction.
DISCUSSION: This novel class of drug has therapeutic potential for other disorders, as the endocannabinoid system is involved in various health conditions. However, rimonabant, the first clinically available member of this class of drugs, has been linked to increased risk of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Due to those risks, the European Medicines Agency called for its
withdrawal from the market in October, 2008. Shortly after this decision, several "major" pharmaceutical companies (Sanofi-aventis, Merck, Pfizer, Solvay) announced that they would stop further clinical research on this class of drug. Here, we provide an overview of those events and make several suggestions for continuing such clinical research, while safeguarding the safety of patients and clinical trial subjects.

All NEWS before February 2009 can be found in our HISTORICAL ARCHIVE.

Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 158K)
Working toward a neurobiological account of ADHD: Commentary on Gail Tripp and Jeff Wickens, Dopamine transfer deficit
by Jonathan Williams, Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, UK

Evidence of Developmental Alterations in Cortical and Subcortical Regions of Children With Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder. Multivoxel In Vivo Phosphorus 31 Spectroscopy. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(12):1419-1428.
An interesting paper on 31-P MRS as diagnostic tool (click to read)

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–Forthcoming-

Autoimmunity - Ljubljana, Slovenia - 2010

- July 2010, ECBB, Ferrara, Italy -

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(august 2010, Eindhoven, NL)

FENS Forum Amsterdam NL July 2010

EBPS workshop - 2010 - on September in Tours (France).

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