• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.219-223
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• 2008

Refeeding syndrome is a life-threatening but treatable condition occurring in any patients with starvation. Electrolyte imbalance, especially hypophosphatemia and fluid shift result in metabolic changes in various systems. The authors reported a case of refeeding syndrome associated with prolonged starvation due to delusion and hallucination in a 38-year-old schizophrenia patient. Hypophosphatemia, hypokalemia, edema and elevation of liver enzyme was occurred despite careful treatment. The symptoms were improved after consistent electrolyte supplement. Close observation and repetitive monitoring are important to prevent refeeding syndrome.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.117-120
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• 2006

Localized amnesia is characterized by a failure to recall events that occurred during a circumscribed period of time. Localized amnesia is the most common type of dissociative amnesia. It is assumed that this is a disorder of memory retrieval. Recent neuroimaing studies reported that posterior cingulate cortex may play a important role in memory(autobiographical) retrieval. The authors reported a case of localized amnesia with mass on left posterior cingulate cortex.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 2008

Major depressive disorder(MDD) is one of the most common diseases with serious health consequences such as increased morbidity, disability, and mortality. Electroconvulsive therapy(ECT) has been used as a treatment for mental disorder since the 1930s. A growing number of recent publications support the conclusions that ECT is an effective and safe treatment for depressed patients. Dosing strategies, frequency, safety, side effects and efficacy of ECT in MDD will be considered. ECT may be an alternative to treatment with antidepressants.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.138-141
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• 1998

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is an uncommon but potentially fatal idiosyncratic reaction to neuroleptics, characterized by muscular rigidity, fever, autonomic dysfunction, and altered consciousness. The major theories to explain NMS is central dopaminergic blockade, but it is unclear. Risperidone is a new antipsychotic drug, a benzisoxazole derivative that blocks dopamine $D_2$ receptor and serotonin type 2 receptor. The comparatively greater serotonin-blocking activity is believed to give risperidone the specific property of not causing any more extrapyramidal side effects than conventional antipsychotics at the optimal dose of 4-8mg/day. It is postulated that risperidone is unlikely to cause NMS. Here, we report a case of risperidone induced neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2010

Depressive disorder is a chronic disabling condition with recurrent episodes. Medication noncompliance is a significant problem for effective management of depressive disorder. However, compliance with antidepressant medication is poor. There are difficulties in assessing compliance accurately. Various methods for assessing compliance are in use. A patient's compliance with antidepressant may be affected by many factors including the clinical characteristics of depression, pharmacologic properties of antidepressants, patients' characteristics, accessibility treatment, and doctor-patient relationships. For enhancing the treatment compliance, psychotherapeutic considerations in patient-therapist relationship are needed.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.21-30
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• 2018

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood psychiatric disorder. Recently, it has been suggested that brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) may play a role in the pathogenesis of ADHD. Our aim of this review is to understand the physiological functions of BDNF and its potential relationship with ADHD and therapeutic approaches of ADHD. Searches were conducted in Pubmed and Research Information Service System (RISS). In this review, we summarized important literatures for the physiological functions of BDNF in neurodevelopment, change of serum BDNF level in ADHD, association of BDNF polymorphism and ADHD and potential association of treatment of ADHD with serum BDNF level. Further studies are required to more clearly understand the source and the role of BDNF in ADHD and to develop BDNF based-ADHD treatement.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.258-261
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• 1996

Objective : Several studies hove suggested that reduction of cholesterol concentration and low cholesterol level increases suicide, homicide, and depression. The authors sought to determine whether low cholesterol is associated with a history of suicidal attempts among major depression patients. Method : The subjects were 105 patients with major depression, diagnosed according to the DSM-III-R criteria, and 105 age, sex matched healthy controls. Blood was token following overnight fast and serum cholesterol concentration were measured by a enzymatic method Results : The serum cholesterol level was significantly lower in the patients with major depression than in healthy controls($180.4{\pm}43.4mg/dl$ vs $199.7{\pm}35.8mg/dl$). And the serum cholesterol level was significantly lower in major depression patients with suicidal attempt than in major depression patients without suicidal attempt($156.7{\pm}38.2mg/dl$ vs $ 187.8{\pm}42.5mg/dl$) Conclusion : It is hypothesized that low cholesterol level is associated with depression by modifying the serotonin metabolism and the production of interleukin-2, low cholesterol concentration should be further investigated as a potential biological marker of suicidal risk in major depression. Prospective study with serial cholesterol determinations should be done.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.177-193
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• 2010

Significant advances have been made in understanding the biological underpinnings of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD), particularly in the field of genetics and neuroimaging. Association studies in candidate genes related with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, monoamines including serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline, and proteins including FK506-binding protein 5 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor have provided important insights with regard to the vulnerability factors in PTSD. Genome-wide association studies and epigenetic studies may provide further information for the role of genes in the pathophysiology of PTSD. Hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulated cortex and amygdala have been considered as key structures that underlie PTSD pathophysiology. Future research that combines genetic and neuroimaging information may provide an opportunity for a more comprehensive understanding of PTSD.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.77-87
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• 2004

Due to the high population prevalence of major depression and the strong emphasis on pharmacotherapy for this disorder, antidepressants are among the most frequently prescribed pharmacological agents. But the clinicians are still unable to predict accurately the response of their depressed patients to medication. This article reviews the biological predictors of treatment response including monoamine, neuroendocrine, pharmacogenetic, and psychophysiologic markers. The biological predictors of response, despite some interesting leads that may in the long term be of considerable importance, are not yet sufficiently established to be of routine clinical usefulness. Many of the predictive factors explored in this article are examples of mediators and moderators that affect outcomes. Each one alone may not provide definitive answers for predicting response to treatment, but each must be taken into account at the outset of treatment. It is clear that treatments must be individualized for each patient. It would be necessary to develop the algorithm in order to predict the responsiveness of antidepressant treatment with integration of the results from the previous studies.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.89-100
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• 2018

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation method that delivers 1-2 mA of current to the scalp. Several clinical studies have been conducted to confirm the therapeutic effect of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with tDCS. Some studies have shown tDCS's antidepressant effect, while the others showed conflicting results in antidepressant effects. Our aim of this review is to understand the biological bases of tDCS's antidepressant effect and review the results of studies on tDCS's antidepressant effect. For the review and search process of MDD treatment using tDCS, the US National Library of Medicine search engine PubMed was used. In this review, we discuss the biological mechanism of tDCS's antidepressant effect and the existing published literature including meta-analysis, systematic review, control trial, open studies, and case reports of antidepressant effects and cognitive function improvement in patients with MDD are reviewed. We also discuss the appropriate tDCS protocol for MDD patients, factors predictive of response to tDCS treatment, the disadvantages of tDCS in MDD treatment, and side effects.