Celikel, Guler; Yalcin, Suat; Kalelioglu, Tevfik; Karamustafalioglu, Nesrin

Background: There is increasing evidence that plasma osmolarity is an independent prognostic factor associated with mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease. Whole blood viscosity (WBV) is also associated with established cardiometabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the acute phase of schizophrenia on physiological parameters, including WBV and plasma osmolarity, in male patients with schizophrenia.Methods: A total of 121 male patients with schizophrenia were included in this study. Routine blood test results were obtained from hospital records, and the laboratory values required for the calculation of viscosity and osmolarity were recorded. Laboratory data from the patients' most recent acute exacerbation were retrieved from hospital records and used as the acute-phase data.Results: There was no statistically significant difference in serum osmolarity between the acute and remission phases (p = 0.360). Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and glucose levels were significantly higher during the remission phase, whereas sodium levels were significantly higher during the acute phase. No significant differences were observed in WBV values between the acute and remission phases (p > 0.05). Furthermore, there were no significant differences in WBV-related parameters, including hematocrit (HCT) and total protein, between the two phases. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), total cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were significantly higher during the remission phase.Conclusions: Although differences were observed in osmolarity-related parameters and viscosity-associated metabolic variables between the acute and remission phases in male patients with schizophrenia, no statistically significant differences were found in serum osmolarity or WBV between the two phases.

Yildiz, Sevler; Atmaca, Murad; Kurt, Osman; Korkmaz, Sevda; Kılıçaslan, Aslı Kazğan; Kılıçarslan, Gülhan; Emir, Burcu Sırlıer

Background: It has been known that there is a significant correlation between depres- sion and cardiovascular diseases. However, the reasons behind this correlation that could affect mortality and morbidity were not fully identified. The present study aimed to ana- lyze arterial stiffness diagnosed with ultrasonography, which could be associated with car- diovascular disease risks in depression patients, and to compare the findings with those of healthy controls. Methods: The study was conducted with 35 depression patients and 35 healthy individu- als. Routine complete blood and biochemistry tests were requested for all patients, and their weight and height, waist circumference, and diastolic and systolic arterial blood pressure were measured. Femoral and carotid artery intima-media thickness and other arterial stiffness parameters were determined with Doppler ultrasonography. Results: It was determined that the systolic pressure (P = .028) was higher in the patient group (P = .028). Also, the carotid elastic modulus (P = .048) was significantly higher in the patient group. A negative and significant correlation was determined between femoral compliance and chlorpromazine equivalent dose (P = .021, r = −0.389). Conclusion: It was determined that the systolic blood pressure and carotid elastic modulus arterial stiffness parameters were significantly higher in depression patients. Measurable arterial stiffness parameters should be investigated in depression patients as cardiovas- cular risk markers. Furthermore, the determination of the effects of psychotropic drugs employed in arterial stiffness treatment could play an important role in the determination of cardiovascular disease risk in these patients.

Yildiz, Sevler; Uğur, Kerim; Kurt, Osman; Kılıçaslan, Aslı Kazğan; Emir, Burcu Sırlıer; Keser, Sinem

Background: Antisocial personality disorder is a frequently studied personality disorder, and its etiopathogenesis is still investigated. Neuroimaging demonstrated that certain regions of the brain could be associated with this disorder, and in the present study, we aimed to investigate the changes in retina, which could be considered an extension of the brain in antisocial personality disorder patients with optical coherence tomography. Methods: The study was conducted with 35 patients and 35 healthy controls. The study data were collected with the Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Form, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and Barratt Impulsivity Scale—Short Form. Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, choroidal thickness, and macular thickness were analyzed based on optical coherence tomography. Results: The Beck Depression Inventory (P= .044), Beck Anxiety Inventory (P = .005), Barratt Impulsivity Scale—motor (P < .001), Barratt Impulsivity Scale—non-planning dimension (P < .001), and Barratt Impulsivity Scale—total scores (P < .001) of the patients were signifi- cantly higher when compared to the controls. The superior (P = .013) and inferior retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (P < .001) of the patients were significantly lower when com- pared to the control group. Conclusion: Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was significantly lower in the patient group when compared to healthy controls, which suggested that it could be associated with the pathophysiology of antisocial personality disorder.

Yildiz, Sevler; Atmaca, Murad; Kurt, Osman; Kılıçaslan, Aslı Kazğan

Background: This study aimed to investigate the personality traits, anxiety sensitivity (AS), anxiety, and depression levels in patients diagnosed with psychogenic pruritus (PP). Certain personality traits may come to the fore in psychosomatic disorders; these traits are thought to make the person vulnerable to psychosomatic diseases. This study aimed to investigate the personality traits, anxiety sensitivity (AS), anxiety, and depression levels in patients diagnosed with psychogenic pruritus (PP). Methods: Thirty-seven patients diagnosed with PP (patient group) and 21 healthy con- trols were included in the study. Sociodemographic Data Form, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3), and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) were administered to all participants. Results: Patients’ EPQ scores for the extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and lie subdi- mensions and EPQ-total scores were significantly higher than those of the control group (P = .001; P < .001; P < .001; P = .008; P < .001, respectively). The total score of ASI-3 scale and the scores of all subdimensions (physical, cognitive, and social) were significantly higher in patients than in controls (P < .001). The BAI (26.8 ± 9.3) and BDI (24.2 ± 8.6) total scores of the patients were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < .001). Conclusions: According to EPQ, patients diagnosed with PP are extroverted, but also cold, distrustful, and aloof; show impulsive behavior; are anxious, depressed, and nervous; overly emotional; and prone to lying. Patients suffer more from anxiety, depressive symp- toms, and AS in physical, cognitive, and social subdimensions than healthy people. Our findings highlight the importance of psychiatric assessment in PP patients. In this context, we believe that PP deserves to be studied in a broad spectrum with its cognitive, behav- ioral, and social aspects.

Kılıçaslan, Aslı Kazgan; Yıldız, Sevler; Kurt, Osman; Atmaca, Murad

Background: Angry rumination (AR) defined as thinking about the causes and conse-quences of anger by focusing on the feelings and experiences of anger can trigger suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury. The purpose of this study was to compare subjects with non-suicidal self-injury and subjects with suicide attempts in relation to anger rumination and also to determine if there is a relationship between anger rumination with non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts, and if so, to determine the direction of this relationship. Methods: In this study, 42 subjects with suicide attempts and 42 subjects with non-suicidal self-injury were included. Sociodemographic Data Form, Beck Depression Inventory, and Anger Rumination Scale were applied to all participants, Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire to those with suicide attempts, and Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury to those with non-suicidal self-injury. Results: Those with non-suicidal self-injury group had significantly higher thoughts of revenge (P =.038), angry afterthoughts (P =.047), and a higher total score of Anger Rumination Scale (P =.025) than those with suicide attempts group. The Beck Depression Inventory scores of suicide attempts group were significantly higher than those of non-suicidal self-injury group (P =.001). A positive and significant correlation was found between Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire and Anger Rumination Scale-total score (r = 0.322, P =.037) and Beck Depression Inventory score (r = 0.440, P =.004). Conclusions: Individuals with non-suicidal self-injury have more anger rumination, angry afterthoughts, and revenge-related thoughts following anger experiences than individuals with suicide attempts. As the severity of suicidal behavior of individuals with suicide attempts increases, so does their anger rumination. Our study may shed light on a bet-ter understanding of non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts and even contribute to intervention programs for these behaviors.

Yıldız, Sevler; Kazğan, Aslı; Tabara, Muhammed Fatih; Kurt, Osman; Atmaca, Murad

Objective: Perfectionism is one of the leading clinical symptoms of the obsessive-com-pulsive personality disorder (OCPD). This research aimed to compare perfectionism and serum thyroid hormone levels between individuals with OCPD and healthy individuals of a control group. Methods: The serum levels of free T4, free T3, and thyroid-stimulating hormone of 37 patients diagnosed with OCPD and 36 healthy controls with similar sociodemo-graphic traits were measured. Furthermore, the Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Form, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS) were applied to all participants in the study. Results: There was a statistically remarkable correlation between the FMPS total score and the T3 level (r = −0.47, P = .004), and between the BAI and the T3 level (r = −0.41, P = .011). Conclusion: The research findings demonstrated that there could be a correlation between perfectionism and thyroid hormone levels.

Gökmen, Burcu Demir; Cengiz, Mine; Firat, Meryem

Objective: The research was conducted in the psychiatry service to examine some demographic variables, internalized stigma and anger levels, as well as the relationship of these variables with each other. Methods: All patients who underwent inpatient treatment in the psychiatric service of a research hospital in the city, and the sample was formed by patients who underwent inpatient treatment in a psychiatric clinic between May and October 2018. The collection of data included Personal Information Form, Internalized Stamping Scale in Mental Illness and the Continuous Anger and Anger Style Scale. The data were collected by face-to-face interview technique and evaluated by the SPSS package program. Results: The total stamping of 89 patients covered in the research was 67.76 +/- 12.55 and the average anger score was 71.64 +/- 11.86. Correlation analysis between scales found a positive relationship between internalized stigma levels of patients and anger (p<0.05). When examining the relationship between the lower dimensions of scales, it was observed that there were generally positive relationships (p<0.05) other than the subsize of the controlled anger subsize. The highest correlation in terms of subdimensions is between social retreat and internal anger subsizes (r=0.377). Discussion: As the level of stigma increased in the study, the level of anger increased, there was less stigma when anger was controlled, and the more social withdrawal there was, the more anger was suppressed. According to these results, it is recommended that psychotraining be carried out in later studies, considering that anger control and community stamping trainings for patients will be beneficial.

Satici, Seydi Ahmet; Kayış, Ahmet Rıfat; Yilmaz, Muhammet Fatih; Eraslan Çapan, Bahtiyar

Objective: In recent years, Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism have been considered together as the dark sides of the personality. In this study, the purpose is to adapt the Dirty Dozen Scale to Turkish culture. Meth-ods: Four steps have been conducted in this study. These studies are linguistic equivalence study, structure and concurrent validity study, predictive validity study, and reliability study, respectively. Nine hundred and thirty-two university students (61% female), who were included in the four steps, participated in the study. Results: Applying a confirmatory factor analysis [X2 (51,430)=145.16, p<0.001; CFI=0.96; GFI=0.95; IFI=0.96; SRMR=0.047; RMSEA= 0.066, 90% CI (0.053-0.078)] a structure was determined made up of three factors which corroborated the structure of the original scale. The result of the predictive validity showed that physical aggression positively predicted Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism; verbal aggression positively predicted psychopathy and narcis-sism; anger positively predicted psychopathy and narcissism; hostility positively predicted psychopathy and narcis-sism. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients have been calculated as 0.79 for Machiavellianism, 0.71 for psychopathy and 0.87 for narcissism. Discussion: The findings of the study have shown that the Turkish form of the Dirty Dozen Scale is a valid and reliable scale to measure the Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism personality traits. Future studies will cast light on the understanding of the structure of the Dark Triad Personality Traits in Turkish culture.

Erşan, Etem Erdal; Erşan, Serpil; Doğan, Kübra; Demirpençe, Özlem; Koç, Derya; Bakır, Sevtap; Kılıçgün, Hasan

Objective: Neuronal damage caused by free radicals is believed to be effective in pathogenesis of several psychiatric disorders. This belief is due to the toxic effects of free radicals that play a role in oxidative stress. Considering that the brain is one of the most sensitive organs to the oxidative damage, the importance of oxidative stress in psychiatric disorders will become more apparent. Additionally, high oxygen use in the brain, and its structure rich in lipid, which is one of the most sensitive molecules to the free radical damage, and its having the average antioxidant system yield support oxidative stress theory in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to determine xanthine oxidase (XO), adenosine deaminase (ADA) and vitamins E levels in patients with schizophrenia and control groups, and to investigate the relationship between schizophrenia and the parameters by comparing the measured parameters with each other. Methods: Our study sample included 30 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. The control group consisted of 30 healthy volunteers matched by sex with similar age and smoking habits. In the patient group and the control group, adenosine deaminase, xanthine oxidase, and vitamin E were measured manually using spectrophotometric methods. Results: Serum xanthine oxidase levels in the schizophrenic group were significantly higher than the control group levels. Serum vitamin E and adenosine deaminase levels in the schizophrenia group were significantly lower than the levels of the control group. Discussion and Conclusion: The fact that mechanism of schizophrenia pathogenesis which has a wide variety of clinical symptoms and a disease process is yet to be elucidated reveals the importance of this kind of studies. In this study, low levels of antioxidant vitamin E and adenosine deaminase, and high levels of xanthine oxidase suggest that oxidative stressmediated neuronal damage may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Therefore, we believe that further research with larger sample groups should be conducted.

Kiliçgün, Hasan; Erşan, Etem Erdal; Bakir, Sevtap; Erşan, Serpil; Koç, Derya; Demirpençe, Özlem; Doğan, Kübra

Objective: Neuronal damage caused by free radicals is believed to be effective in pathogenesis of several psychi-atric disorders. This belief is due to the toxic effects of free radicals that play a role in oxidative stress. Considering that the brain is one of the most sensitive organs to the oxidative damage, the importance of oxidative stress in psychiatric disorders will become more apparent. Additionally, high oxygen use in the brain, and its structure rich in lipid, which is one of the most sensitive molecules to the free radical damage, and its having the average antioxi-dant system yield support oxidative stress theory in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to determine xanthine oxidase (XO), adenosine deaminase (ADA) and vitamins E levels in patients with schizophrenia and control groups, and to investigate the relationship between schizophrenia and the parameters by comparing the measured parameters with each other. Methods: Our study sample included 30 patients diagnosed with schizo-phrenia. The control group consisted of 30 healthy volunteers matched by sex with similar age and smoking habits. In the patient group and the control group, adenosine deaminase, xanthine oxidase, and vitamin E were measured manually using spectrophotometric methods. Results: Serum xanthine oxidase levels in the schizophrenic group were significantly higher than the control group levels. Serum vitamin E and adenosine deaminase levels in the schizophrenia group were significantly lower than the levels of the control group. Discussion and Conclusion: The fact that mechanism of schizophrenia pathogenesis which has a wide variety of clinical symptoms and a dis-ease process is yet to be elucidated reveals the importance of this kind of studies. In this study, low levels of antioxidant vitamin E and adenosine deaminase, and high levels of xanthine oxidase suggest that oxidative stress-mediated neuronal damage may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Therefore, we believe that further research with larger sample groups should be conducted.