Objective Effects of conventional and atypical antipsychotics on bone mineral density (BMD) and serum prolactin levels (PRL) were examined in patients with schizophrenia. Methods One hundred and sixty-three first-episode inpatients with schizophrenia were recruited, to whom one of three conventional antipsychotics (perphenazine, sulpiride, and chlorpromazine) or one of three atypical antipsychotics (clozapine, quetiapine, and aripiprazole) was prescribed for 12 months as appropriate. BMD and PRL were tested before and after treatment. Same measures were conducted in 90 matched healthy controls. Results Baseline BMD of postero-anterior L1-L4 range from 1.04 ± 0.17 to 1.42 ± 1.23, and there was no significant difference between the patients group and healthy control group. However, post-treatment BMD values in patients (ranging from 1.02 ± 0.15 to 1.23 ± 0.10) were significantly lower than that in healthy controls (ranging from 1.15 ± 0.12 to 1.42 ± 1.36). The BMD values after conventional antipsychotics were significantly lower than that after atypical antipsychotics. The PRL level after conventional antipsychotics (53.05 ± 30.25 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that after atypical antipsychotics (32.81 ± 17.42 ng/ml). Conditioned relevance analysis revealed significant negative correlations between the PRL level and the BMD values after conventional antipsychotics. Conclusion The increase of PRL might be an important risk factor leading to a high prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with schizophrenia on long-term conventional antipsychotic medication.

The authors recruited 401 suicide attempters from general hospitals and 409 matched non-attempters to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) in rural China. All participants completed the BHS, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI). Suicide attempters had higher BHS scores than non-attempters. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were satisfactory and BHS scores significantly correlated to CES-D and TAI scores. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a four-factor model for suicide attempters and a five-factor model for non-attempters. The BHS is satisfactory in assessing hopelessness among suicide attempters in rural China.

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rs4760820 and rs11178998 were identified to have strong genetic association with BD in present study though confirmation will require larger sample sizes and in additional populations.