A brief outline is provided of the recent developments of psychiatric research in Italy. In the field of psychiatric epidemiology, the contributions by the Psychiatric Department of Verona University and the Chair of Mental Hygiene of Pavia University, based on the application of the psychiatric register, are summarized. On the clinical side, emphasis is laid on the research on schizoaffective disorders by the Naples group and on the course and outcome of depression by the Pisa group. In the framework of psychobiological research, the studies carried out in the Psychiatric Department of Milan University on the role of HLA antigens as genetic markers of vulnerability to schizophrenia are mentioned, as well as those by the Naples group on cerebrospinal fluid levels of noradrenaline and on platelet MAO activity in schizophrenics.
Finally, in the field of clinical psychopharmacology, the interest of Italian researchers in the topics of prediction of response to psychotropic drugs (especially lithium) and of monitoring of antidepressant plasma levels is emphasized.
