This study assessed the association between serum lipid levels and aggression in female patients with schizophrenia. The study included female patients with schizophrenia (N = 120). The participants were subdivided into two groups (aggressive and nonaggressive), with 60 participants in each group. Serum lipids—cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins (HDL cholesterol), and low-density lipoproteins (LDL cholesterol)—were determined. The clinical part of the study included an evaluation using psychiatric scales: the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS), the aggression subscale of the PANSS scale (PANSS-AG), and the overt aggression scale (OAS). Significant differences were only observed in HDL cholesterol levels, where aggressive subjects had significantly lower values of HDL cholesterol (t = 2.540; p = 0.012), and the representation of subjects with low cholesterol values was almost three-times higher in the group of subjects with aggression (χ2 = 7.007; p = 0.008) compared to the nonaggressive group. The nominally significant predictor for HDL cholesterol in nonaggressive and aggressive participants was the total value of the PANSS scores. In subjects with aggression, suicidality was not significantly associated with HDL cholesterol levels. Our findings suggest that lower HDL cholesterol is significantly associated with aggression in women with schizophrenia.

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S obzirom na kontinuirano povećanje broja starijih osoba u ukupnoj populaciji u Hrvatskoj, za očekivati je da će se broj starijih osoba s akutnim psihičkim smetnjama koje zahtijevaju hitno zbrinjavanje sve više povećavati. Najčešći psihički poremećaji kod starijih osoba su: depresivni poremećaji, kognitivni poremećaji, demencija, poremećaji vezani uz uzimanje alkohola, poremećaji vezani uz druga zdravstvena stanja i lijekovima izazvani poremećaji.Gerijatrijski bolesnici bi u pravilu prvo trebali biti pregledani od strane stručnjaka somatske medicine (internista, neurologa, kirurga) prije nego što se upućuju u hitnu psihijatrijsku službu, kako bi se ustanovilo da su primarne smetnje iz psihijatrijske domene. Izražena depresija, suicidalnost, agitacija, sklonosti lutanju i ostalim rizičnim ponašanjima kod kuće, izražena anksioznost i smanjena sposobnost brige o sebi, glavni su razlozi hospitalizacije kod ovih bolesnika./ Related to the fact of the continuous increase in the number of elderly people in the total population of Croatia, it can be expected that the number of elderly people with acute psychiatric disorders that require emergency care will increase. The most common psychiatric disorders found in the elderly are depressive disorders, cognitive disorders, dementia, alcoholrelated disorders, disorders related to other health conditions and drug-induced disorders. Geriatric patients should, generally speaking, first be reviewed by a psychosomatic medical specialist (internist, neurologist, surgeon) before they are sent to psychiatric emergency services in order to establish that the primary complaint is connected with the psychiatric domain. Pronounced depression, suicidality, agitation, wandering tendencies and other home-based risk behaviours, with anxiousness and reduced self-care ability, are the main reasons for hospitalization. ADRESA ZA DOPISIVANJE / CORRESPONDENCE:Doc. dr. sc. Miroslav Herceg, dr. med. Klinika za psihijatriju Vrapče

Background: The prevalence of hyperprolactinemia among psychiatric patients receiving antipsychotic medications was estimated to be between 30% and 70%. A review of the literature on prolactin and schizophrenia symptoms suggests that the correlation between them is complex and not limited to the adverse effects of antipsychotics. Relations with specific symptom dimensions have not been found consistently across studies. The association between increased prolactin and recurrent episodes of schizophrenia needs to be replicated in larger samples and in a population of female patients. The aim of this study was to find out whether elevated prolactin is related to specific symptoms or dimensions of schizophrenia, which is a heterogenic entity.Subjects and methods: The sample consisted of 119 consecutively acute admitted women, aged 18 to 45 years with recurrent schizophrenia diagnosed on bases of DSM-5 criteria. Assessment for all the enrolled subjects comprised a psychiatric evaluation and blood draw to determine the prolactin level. Symptoms of schizophrenia were determined using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Data were analyzed by regression analysis and the Independent Samples t Test. Values are given as means ±SD. Results: Hyperprolactinemia was detected in 74.79% patients (n=89), whereas the group without hyperprolactinemia comprised 25.21% of the sample. When plasma prolactin levels and clinical features between groups were compared, there was a statistically significant difference in the negative subscale scores of the PANSS (p=0.0011), positive subscale scores of the PANNS (p=0.0043), general subscale scores of the PANSS (p=0.0226) and total scores of the PANNS (p=0.0003).Conclusion: There were statistically significant differences in the clinical symptoms between two compared groups in total score and in the positive, negative and general subscores.