Is a cyclic neuropeptide produced primarily in the hypothalamus and plays an important neuromodulatory role for other neurotransmitter systems, with an impact on behavior, response to danger, stress, and complex social interactions, such as pair bonding and child care. This narrative expert review examines the literature on oxytocin as a brain hormone. We focused on oxytocin structure, distribution, genetics, and the oxytocin receptor system, as well as the relationship of oxytocin with other neurotransmitters and the resulting impacts on the main psychiatric disorders. Oxytocin levels have been correlated over time with mental illness, with numerous studies focusing on oxytocin and the pathophysiology of the main psychiatric disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, personality disorders, mood, and eating disorders. We highlight the role oxytocin plays in improving symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and social behavior, as the literature suggests. Risk factors and causes for psychiatric disorders range from genetic to environmental and social factors. Oxytocin could impact the latter, being linked with other neurotransmitter systems that are responsible for integrating different situations during the development phases of individuals. Also, these systems have an important role in how the body responds to stressors or bonding with others, helping with the creation of social support groups that could speed up recovery in many situations. Oxytocin has the potential to become a key therapeutic agent for future treatment and prevention strategies concerning the main psychiatric disorders.

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Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a well-deliberated growth factor that serves many purposes throughout the central nervous system (CNS) and has been implicated in various psychiatric and neurological disorders. This article reviews the current understanding and future directions in BDNF-related research in the CNS, with an emphasis on its relation to depression and anxiety-related disorders.

Objectives: Out of all clinical forms of schizophrenia, the hebephrenic type is the least responsive to antipsychotic treatment and most difficult to manage. This characteristic results in a high average number of hospitalizations, more frequent institutionalization, generating additional cost for health care providers. With this argument in mind, we want to determine if there is a correlation between the primary hospitalization indicators and differences in antipsychotic treatment. Methods: We anonymously collected data on all patients admitted in the Socola Institute of Psychiatry over the last five years with a confirmed diagnosis of hebephrenic schizophrenia. We logged the data regarding the age and sex of the patients, admission and discharge date, type of admission (inpatient or outpatient) as well as data regarding treatment recommendations at discharge. We performed statistical analysis, calculating for basic statistical indicators as well as variance, confidence interval, standard error and p-values. Results: We included in our study 34 inpatients with hebephrenic schizophrenia, 19 outpatients and 4 institutionalized patients. Variance on all of the parameters we tested was 102/Bulletin of Integrative Psychiatry New Series  December 2019  Year XXV  No. 4 (83) high resulting weak statistical significance. Statistically significant correlations were found between the type of antipsychotic treatment (typical, atypical, both) and hospitalization period and between the type of antipsychotic treatment (oral, depot) and duration between hospitalizations. Conclusion: Our study found multiple correlations between the type of antipsychotic prescribed and hospitalization indicators, but due to the high variance of the samples, many of them proved not significant statistically. In the cases where a statistical significance was found, further investigation is necessary in order to establish the causal relationship between the parameters that we tested, and to establish if these correlations have a beneficial impact on the cost of the medical assistance and patients' quality of life. KEYWORDS: Hebephrenic schizophrenia, antipsychotic treatment, hospitalization indicators INTRODUCTION Schizophrenia is arguably one of the most puzzling, yet disabling of all mental disorders, with its severe and persistent psychotic manifestations accompanied by capricious cognitive deficits and profound psychosocial impairment. Although schizophrenia is discussed as if it is a single disease, it probably embodies a group of disorders with diverse etiologies, and it includes patients whose clinical presentations, treatment response, and illness trajectory vary. (1, 2, 3) According to the DSM-IV-TR nosology, the subtypes in schizophrenia include the paranoid, disorganized (hebephrenic), catatonic, undifferentiated and residual. Although they are defined by the predominant symptomatology at the time of evaluation, the schizophrenia subtypes offer a limited value in clinical and research setting (e.g., prediction of illness trajectory, ...