Tag Archives: cholesterol

A brief reflection on the role of cholesterol in psychopathology among female psychiatric patients

Edina Dimeny1, Erika Bán2, Attila Brassai2

1. George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology, Department of Pharmacology
2. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine in English, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, Romania

DOI: 10.2478/amma-2021-0015

Objective: Cholesterol is one of the cardiovascular risk factors, but also a core component of the central nervous system. Moreover, hypercholesterolemia and hypocholesterolemia are directly related to numerous mental illnesses too. This study intends to examine the association between cholesterol level and autolytic behavior among female psychiatric patients.
Methods: The present study involves 123 female subjects, who suffered from suicidal thoughts at the moment of hospitalization. The risk of suicidal intentions was assessed by the Modified Scale for Suicide Ideation (Miller et al) and their total serum cholesterol levels were measured. We performed a case-control, analytical, randomized, observational study at the Clinical Hospital of Neurology and Psychiatry Brasov among adult female psychiatric patients admitted during 2014.
Results: By our results we distinguished 3 categories: 38 patients with low suicide risk, 32 with moderate risk and 53 with high suicide risk. Significant difference can be noticed in the higher suicide risk patients’ blood cholesterol levels: 44 patients having under 4,5mmol/L total cholesterol level (83%). Although, in other two categories, this proportion is minimal: in the moderate-risk category were 8 patients, representing just 25 %, and in the low-risk category only 1 patient had her cholesterol level under 4,5mmol/L (2,6%).
Conclusions: According to our results, proposing cholesterol-level as a biomarker for the determination of high-risk suicide behavior can be important. The presence of other important risk factors (sociodemographic and psychiatric variables) can increase exponentially the suicide behavior. The limitations of this study are the relatively small number of cases and the lack of longitudinal subsequent follow-up. Further investigations are needed on a larger and more heterogenous sample of patients in order to clarify this suggestive correlation.

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Metabolic Profile and the Histological Changes in Patients with Chronic Viral Hepatitis

Crăciun P1, Oltean G2, Georgescu D3, Crăciun Lucia4

1 Chronic Haemodialysis Center, Tîrgu Mureș
2 County Emergency Clinical Hospital Tîrgu Mureș, Medical Clinic I
3 County Emergency Clinical Hospital Tîrgu Mureș, Clinic of Gastroenterology I
4 Sighișoara Municipal Hospital, Integrated Specialty Dispensary

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of steatosis and its correlation with lipidic profile changes comparing the patients with HVB to those with HVC.
Material and method: We enrolled a number of 87 patients who were diagnosed with viral hepatitits B and C between 2004–2008 in Medical Clinic I from Tîrgu Mureș, based on positive test results for HBs antigen and HCV antibody, on the presence of HCV-ARN and on histological features. To all patients it was performed hepatic biopsy and we determined cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, ALT and AST blood levels.
Results: Steatosis had a higher incidence in patients with HCV infection. The steatosis is correlated with necroinflammation and fibrosis in patients with HVC. In the case of patients with HVB there was no correlation between the steatosis and the grade of fibrosis. The HVC group yielded lower mean values of cholesterol, triglycerides and glicemia than the HVB group. The values of the aminotransferases were increased in patients with hepatic steatosis in both groups.
Conclusions: Hepatic steatosis appears with a higher incidence in patients with HVC and it is correlated with the necroinflammatory and fibrosis scores. There is no correlation between the steatosis and fibrosis stage in HVB patients. Both in HVB and HVC the steatosis is correlated with high values of serum aminotransferases.

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Reducing Global Risk of Ambulatory Assisted Hypertensive Patients – What Could Be Changed in the Practice of a Romanian Preventive Ambulatory System According to New Dyslipidaemia Guidelines?

Preg Z1, Kikeli P1, Germán-Salló Márta3, Hubatsch Mihaela1, Bocicor Andreea-Elena1, László MI2

1 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Tîrgu Mureş, Romania
2 Procardia Medical Society, Tîrgu Mureş, Romania
3 Department of Medical Semiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Tîrgu Mureş, Romania

Reducing the total cardiovascular risk of hypertensive patients is one of the basic targets in hypertension management. A good lipid control is a major contributor of the global risk reduction.
Purpose: To simulate the impact of the ESC/EAS 2011 guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias on the lipid management practice of a preventive profiled ambulatory cardiology system.
Methods: The study included all the 7413 hypertensive patients examined between 2002–2011 in a preventive ambulatory system. As a part of the simulation patients were stratified to risk categories according to ESC 2011 guidelines. We compared the frequency of prescribed cholesterol lowering medication with that theoretically indicated based on the new guidelines. The study is based on a retrospective simulation of the theoretical effects of the implementation of the new guidelines in a real patient population.
Results: Risk stratification could be performed in 78.74% of the population. Patients were stratified to very high risk 74.82%, high risk 1.96%, moderate risk 8.66%, and low risk 14.56%. Cholesterol lowering treatment was prescribed for 39.58% of the patients. Very high risk patients were treated more frequently (48.8%), than high (37.0%), moderate (26.5%), or low (16.4%) risk patients. According to the new ESC guidelines theoretical indication for cholesterol lowering treatment has been for 52.07% (3860) of patients. The analysis of the yearly trends in prescribing cholesterol lowering drugs showed an increase from 0% in 2002 to 52.7% in 2011.
Conclusions: A yearly improving trend can be observed in the frequency of indicating cholesterol lowering drugs. The future implementation of the new guideline has the potential impact to assure cholesterol lowering medication indication for another 1980 patients in our sample.

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Metabolic Effects of Two Different Doses of Venlafaxine Therapy on Rats

Imre Annamária1, Kolcsár Melinda1*, Groșan Alexandra1, Imre M2, Dogaru Maria Titica1

1 Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Tîrgu Mureș, Romania
2 Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Tîrgu Mureş, Romania

DOI: 10.1515/amma-2015-0049

Objectives: Venlafaxine is an antidepressant, categorized as a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) with suspected metabolic side effects. The aim of our study was to assess these metabolic effects in rats, using two different doses of venlafaxine.
Materials: Three groups of Wistar rats have been treated with venlafaxine during seven weeks. The rats have received a daily dose of 10mg/kg (D1) and 40 mg/kg (D2) while the control group (Dc) has received no treatment. Rats were given “ad libitum” access to food and water. The rats were weighted at treatment day 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and 49. After completion of venlafaxine treatment, the rats were sacrificed, blood was harvested and the following biochemical parameters have been determined from the centrifuged plasma: triglycerides, glucose and total cholesterol levels.
Results: Both the 10 mg/kg and the 40 mg/kg dose venlafaxine therapy resulted in a highly significant increase of rat’s weight. Compared with the control group the mean weight of D1 group has increased with 130.5 ±21.79 g (<0.01) while the mean weight of the second group increased with 94±24.16 g (p<0.01). In addition weight gain of D1 group was significantly higher than that of D2 group (p<0.01). Venlafaxine therapy induced significant increase in serum triglyceride levels (140.04±55.46 mg/dL p<0.01, 83.59±52.85 mg/dL p=0.05). This metabolic effect has been shown to be more evident in case of 10mg/kg dose therapy (p=0.03). Simultaneously, serum cholesterol levels have been reduced, however this decrease proved to be significant only in case of group D2 (p=0.03). Despite of increased triglyceride values, glucose levels were significantly decreased in both treated groups (133.33±36.18mg/dL p=0.05, 118.10±51.98 mg/dL p=0.02).
Conclusions: Our results suggest that venlafaxine administrated to rats has unwished dose related metabolic effects such as significant increase in weight and hypertriglyceridemia, however serum cholesterol and plasma glucose levels appears to be decreased by this medication.

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