Epidemiological studies on delusional disorder (DD) have shown that it is more frequent in women than in men. Women become ill later and the majority of them have lower social functioning at admission and more duration of the hospitalization.

Describe a sample of 78 inpatients on DD and performance in follow-up.

To perform a description and analysis of gender-related features in DD.

We included all consecutive cases of DD inpatients, fulfilling the DSM-IV-TR criteria, at the Department of Psychiatry (Hospital Clinic-Barcelona), from 2000 to 2011. We recorded sociodemographic data, clinical features at index admission, pharmacological treatment use and adherence to follow-up after discharge for the first year. for comparison purposes, Mann-Whitney U and Chi-square tests were used.

Seventy four per cent were women, mean age (SD) 61.27 years (13.08). the most common delusional ideas were persecutory delusions (74.4%). Women were admitted more frequently due to behavioral and thought disorders (p = 0.011). Women became ill later than men (50.05 vs 46.45 years; p=ns). Age at first admission was higher in women (56.71 vs 51.55), not significantly. Duration of hospitalization was longer in women (p=0.045), they received more antidepressants (p = 0.029) and showed less compliance during the first six months (38% vs 17.6% dropped-outs). There were no differences in the mean period between the first and the second admission.

There are gender differences in DD in age at onset, at first admission and duration of hospitalization. Women need more pharmacological treatments but show less compliance at follow-up.

To assess the prevalence and gender characteristics of psychological health problems of raped individuals during the Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) 1992–1995 war sixteen years after war quitted.

The study was carried out in BH, in January 2011. We assessed 95 (81 females) Bosniac (Muslim) war survivors who experienced raping as a tool of genocide, aged 50 ± 10.1 years (min. 32, max. 73 years), without gender significant differences for presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorder, depression, somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, severe depression, prevalence of smoking and alcohol drinking. We used Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28).

Respecting the DSM-IV criteria, in the whole sample of 95 raped victims, 90 (94.7%) met criteria for PTSD, 94 (98.9%) for anxious disorder, 93 (97.9%) for depression, 73 (76.8%) for somatic symptoms, 75 (78.9%) for anxiety and insomnia, 55 (57.9%) for social dysfunction, 53 (55.8%) for severe depression, 53 (55.8%) were cigarette smokers and 8 (8.4%) drunk alcohol. Women significantly more frequent presented anxious disorder 81 (100%) than amongst men 13 (92.9%), while men significantly more drunk alcohol than women (Chi-Square=5.847, P = 0.016; Chi-Square=15.635, P < 0.001, respectively).

Raped women were significantly more often anxious than men and raped men significantly more often drunk alcohol than women. There were no significant gender differences in the prevalence of PTSD, depression, somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, severe depression and smoking cigarettes amongst raped war survivors.

Gender has been found to be a significant factor in quality of life in patients with psychiatric disorders. Compliance on the other hand is something that psychiatric patients are usually not familiar with.

To explore the way that gender effects compliance in patients with mental problems.

To see the influence of gender in readmissions, days of hospitalization and compliance to therapy.

133 (60, 7%) males and 86 (39, 3%) females participated in the study. Chi square test and independent sample t test were performed with SPSS16. DASS42 and SRQ questionnaires were administered to all patients in admission and at the end of the treatment. Compliance to therapy required low scores to both of them at the end of the treatment and the consent of the psychiatrist who were responsible for each patient. Six months after the exit of the Department readmissions were explored.

No significant difference was found in days of hospitalization with t test. the proportion of men who had a good compliance to therapy was 0.66 whereas the proportion from women was 0.86. the difference in proportions is significant, χ2 (2, N = 219) = 17.43, p < 0.001. the proportion of women who had a readmission through a 6 months period was 0.13 whereas the proportion from men was 0.25. the difference in proportions is significant, χ2 (1, N = 219) = 4.76, p < 0.05.

It seems that women show better compliance to treatment so they have less readmissions than men.

Alcohol dependence disorder has been widely described. However, differences due to gender remain unknown.

To compare clinical gender differences in an alcohol dependent outpatient sample.

Alcohol dependent outpatients from the centre for addiction treatment of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital following treatment during 2005 to 2011 were evaluated. We included patients with an alcohol dependence following DSM-IV criteria. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were collected. Simple descriptive statistics were carried out for demographic and clinical data. Bivariate analysis was made to compare the main variables by sex using SPSSvs15.0.

149 patients were included, 83.2% were men. No gender differences were found in the mean age of the sample. Time of first alcohol use to regular consumption was significantly shorter in men (7.9 ± 6.9 year vs 13.95 ± 8.9 years). Significantly more women (68%) compared with men (44.4%) had comorbid psychiatric disorders. 52% of women and 28.2% of men had depressive symptoms. No gender differences were observed for psychotic, anxiety neither personality disorders. Comorbidity with nicotine dependence was high in men and in women (75.4% vs 73.9%). Significantly more women had sedatives dependence (16% vs 5.3%) and opiate dependence (8.3% vs 3.5%) without observing gender differences in the other drugs. the 71.4% of women consume alone compared with the 38.7% of men.

Alcoholic women tend to consume alone. They have more comorbid mental disorders, being depression the most prevalent. Besides alcohol dependence, women also had more sedatives and opiate dependence than men.

Hyperprolactinaemia causes hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Hyperprolactinaemia could be pre-existing in some patients with schizophrenia. Dopamine is the most important prolactin inhibiting factor, while dopaminergic hyperactivity has been implicated to the pathophysiology of psychosis.

We present the case of a patient with hypogonadism secondary to chronic, untreated hyperprolactinaemia who developed acute psychotic symptoms.

Psychotic symptoms resolved soon after treatment with aripiprazole in conjunction with cabergoline, with a concomitant decrease in serum prolactin levels.

An interesting cause effect relationship of hyperprolactinaemia and psychosis has been suggested

Violence is a public health issue that directly affects every single individual within any society. Adolescence is a crucial period in one's lifespan, whereby risky and aggressive behavior and overall exposure to violence increases. According to the literature; certain genders are subject to differing violence types. Studying violence is of importance in developing countries such as Turkey.

The main aim of this study was to understand the gender differences in terms of exposure to different kinds of violent behaviors among Turkish adolescents.

The sample consisted of 999 8th and 9th grade students. Participants completed a survey that provided information about the frequency of direct and indirect exposure to physical, verbal, sexual and relational violence. One-way ANOVA analysis was used to compare the differences.

The results showed that males were more frequently exposed to violence; in particular to verbal and physical. Females were found to be exposed to more sexual violence. These findings were consistent with the literature. However, it was also found that, contrary to expectations, males also reported being directly exposed to relational violence more frequently and there was no significant difference between genders, in terms of indirect exposure to relational violence. the different findings can be explained by cultural differences.

This study provides invaluable information about exposure to violence within adolescents in the Turkish population. the results emphasize the importance of culture while working on gender differences.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetic disorder characterized by movement disturbances, psychiatric symptoms, and cognitive impairment resulting in a subcortical dementia. It is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease with almost complete penetrance. An increased number of CAG repeats in the 5’ region of the IT15 gene on chromosome 4 is believed to be the responsible mutation. CAG expansion beyond 35 repeats is associated with the expression of HD.

A description of the psychiatric symptoms of Huntington's disease through a possible case.

A 28 year-old, female, was admitted for injury and grandeur delusions, suspicion an mania that had started in the last two weeks. Grandmother and great grandmother diagnosed with Huntington's disease. Transcranial magnetic resonance seemed to show a descent on the peak of the N-Acetylaspartate neuronal marker. Genetic test shower 27 repeats of the CAG, that is, intermediate risk. Olanzapine was started up to 20 mg per day and carbamazepine was started up to 600 mg per day. She had a progressive clinical improvement and in one month was discharged.

The diagnosis of HD is based upon presence of the typical clinical features and a family history of the disease. with the availability of genetic molecular testing, all suspected HD cases can be easily confirmed.

In our case report, because of the medium-risk, genetic advice will be necessary, due to the probability of transmiting the illness onto the descendants, as well as a follow-up to predict its reappearing.

The etiology of bipolar disorder (BD) is poorly understood, involving genetic, epigenetic mechanisms and environmental contributions.

Among the candidate genes associated with major psychoses, the present study investigated the degree of DNA methylation at brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene promoter in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from bipolar patients.

DNA was isolated from the blood of 94 BD patients (49 BD I and 45 BD II) and 52 controls and converted with sodium bisulfite. Real Time Methylation Specific PCR was performed to quantify promoter methylation.

A significant BDNF gene expression down-regulation was observed in BD II 0.53 ± 0.11%; p < 0.05), but not in BD I (1.13 ± 0.19%) patients compared with controls (CONT: 1±0.2%). Consistently, an hypermethylation of the BDNF promoter region was specifically found in BD II patients (CONT: 24.0 ± 2.1%; BDI: 20.4 ± 1.7%; BDII: 33.3 ± 3.5%, p < 0.05). of note, higher levels of DNA methylation were observed in BD subjects on pharmacological treatment with mood stabilizers plus antidepressants (34.6 ± 4.2%, predominantly BD II) compared with those exclusively on mood stabilizing agents (21.7 ± 1.8%; p < 0.01, predominantly BD I). Moreover, among the different pharmacological therapies, lithium (20.1 ± 3.8%, p < 0.05) and valproate (23.6 ± 2.9%, p < 0.05) were associated with a significant reduction of DNA methylation compared to other drugs (35.6 ± 4.6%).

Present findings suggest selective changes in DNA methylation of BDNF promoter in subjects with BD type II and highlight the importance of epigenetic factors in mediating the patophysiology an treatment response of BD.

Recently, the 17q21.31 microdeletion syndrome was described with characteristic features including developmental delay, moderate intellectual disability, facial dysmorphisms, and anomalies of the brain and multiple organ systems. with respect to behaviour, scarce data from clinical observations have suggested a remarkably amiable, friendly disposition, to some extent comparable to that observed in Williams syndrome.

Delineation of the behavioural phenotype in 17q21.31 microdeletion syndrome.

Investigating the various aspects of neurocognitive functioning in 17q21.31 microdeletion syndrome and social cognition in particular.

Neuropsychological assessment was performed in three out of the four known Dutch patients with a proven 17q21.31 microdeletion syndrome as well as in three control subjects with intellectual disability. Apart from intelligence, attention, memory and executive functioning, social-emotional functioning was extensively assessed.

The general cognitive profile of all patients and controls was in accordance with their lowered intellectual capacities, albeit that in the patients a relatively strong memory for social-contextual information was established. Basic emotion perception was intact in both patients and controls; but patients showed less social fear and more approaching behaviour. Interestingly, alexithymic traits, being marked difficulties in the recognition and expression of emotions, were more prevalent in control subjects.

Hypersocial behaviour with a high level of frustration tolerance was demonstrated with a hypothetico-deductive assessment strategy in the three patients with 17q21.31 microdeletion syndrome, and may be part of its core phenotype.

Aarskog syndrome (AAS) also called Aarskog-Scott syndrome faciodigitogenital syndrome or faciogenital dysplasia is a genetically heterogeneous developmental disorder, first described in 1970 by the Norwegian pediatrician Dagfin Aarskog and further delineated by Scott in 1971. It is a predominantly X-linked disorder, phenotypically characterized by short stature, craniofacial dysmorphisms, brachydactyly and urogenital abnormalities. the level of intelligence shows a great variability and no specific behavioural phenotype has been described so far. in about 20 percent of Aarskog families, a mutation in the FGD1 gene located in Xp11.21 can be identified.

The delineation of the potential behavioural phenotype of AAS.

Neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric investigation of four males from one kindred.

Four affected affected males from the fourth generation of a previously published large Dutch family (Van de Vooren et al., 1983) are assessed in detail by means of an extensive neuropsychological battery and semi-structured psychiatric examination. in addition, mutation analysis was performed.

A novel FGD1 missense mutation (R402W) at position 1204 (1204C>T) was demonstrated. in the patients, the level of intelligence varied between normal and severely disabled. Their behavioural profile showed, among others, elements of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, primarily reflected by impaired executive attentional processes that may be sensitive to systematic training.

In AAS, dysfunctional executive cognitive processes can be considered as part of the behavioural phenotype of the syndrome. Cognitive training and structuring of daily life may therefore reduce the intensity of disinhibited behaviours that are reported in AAS patients

Impulsivity/disinhibition trait has been defined as the predisposition to respond to internal or external stimuli without regard to the potentially negative consequences. the genetic of personality traits has been evaluated in relation to microsatellites and SNPs, however, the contribution of copy number variation (CNV) is poorly known. We hypothesize that CNV may be part of the genetic component of the impulsivity/disinhibition trait.

To evaluate the distribution of CNV in a cohort of impulsive/disinhibited subjects.

To detect CNV, CNV regions (CNVR) and candidate genes involved in impulsive-disinhibited trait.

Comparative genome hybridization (CGH) analysis in a group of subjects that scores the highest values in impulsivity/disinhibition questionnaires. DNA from each high scoring subject was compared with a pool of DNA obtained from low scoring controls. Data was analysed by Agilent Genomic Workbench using ADAM2 algorithm to identify CNVs and CNVR with statistical threshold of 7.5 and a minimum of 4 probes.

A list of 68 genes, from the 38 selected CNVRs, was obtained from Human Genome build 37 (h19). Enrichment of genes for biological attributes and disease association were captured from Phenotype-Genotype Integrator and GeneDecsk web resources. Experimental validation of enriched genes, by Taqman copy number assays and MLPA, are in progress.

As an exploratory strategy we will be able to capture genes differentially represented in subjects analyzed, that could be experimentally validated in the entire cohort.