Prepulse Inhibition in Cocaine Addiction and Dual Pathologies

Abstract

Cocaine addiction is frequently associated with different psychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder. A small number of studies have used prepulse inhibition (PPI) as a discriminating factor between these disorders. This work evaluated PPI and the phenotype of patients with cocaine-related disorder (CRD) who presented a dual diagnosis of schizophrenia or antisocial personality disorder. A total of 74 men aged 18–60 years were recruited for this research. The sample was divided into four groups: CRD (n = 14), CRD and schizophrenia (n = 21), CRD and antisocial personality disorder (n = 16), and a control group (n = 23). We evaluated the PPI and other possible vulnerability factors in these patients by using different assessment scales. PPI was higher in the CRD group at 30 ms (F(3, 64) = 2.972, p = 0.038). Three discriminant functions were obtained which allowed us to use the overall Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised score, reward sensitivity, and PPI at 30 ms to predict inclusion of these patients in the different groups with a success rate of 79.7% (42.9% for CRD, 76.2% for CRD and schizophrenia, 100% for CRD and antisocial personality disorder, and 91.3% in the control group). Despite the differences we observed in PPI, this factor is of little use for discriminating between the different diagnostic groups and it acts more as a non-specific endophenotype in certain mental disorders, such as in patients with a dual diagnosis.

Prepulse inhibition deficit as a transdiagnostic process in neuropsychiatric disorders: a systematic review

“…Regarding PPI in patients using cannabis, all reviewed studies observed lower prepulse inhibition than subjects in the control group [ 137 – 139 , 141 , 142 ]. Conversely, in studies evaluating patients using cocaine, a generally higher PPI was found among patients compared to controls [ 134 , 140 , 143 , 144 ]. Similarly, one of the reviewed studies analyzing ecstasy found the same trend [ 135 ] while another did not find any differences [ 136 ].…”

“…These areas had previously been related to PPI in both animals and humans [ 41 , 44 – 46 ]. Additionally, changes in neurotransmission such as hyperactivation of the dopaminergic system [ 95 , 83 , 115 , 134 , 142 , 143 ] and dysfunction of the glutamatergic, GABAergic, and catecholaminergic systems have also been associated with PPI disruption [ 84 , 89 , 90 , 135 , 140 ].…”

Aggressive behaviour in antipsychotic‐naive first‐episode schizophrenia patients, their unaffected siblings and healthy controls

“…The BIS‐11 contains 30‐items grouped into three subscales: attentional (intolerance of complexity), motor (impetuous action), and nonplanning (lack of future orientation) impulsiveness. The BIS has previously been used to assess impulsiveness in patients with schizophrenia (e.g., Fuertes‐Saiz et al, 2019; Gil‐Miravet et al, 2021). The present study revealed a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.896 for the total BIS‐11.…”

“…Total scores range from 26 to 104. The LSRPS psychopathy has been used by previous researchers to investigate psychopathy traits among patients with schizophrenia (e.g., Fuertes‐Saiz et al, 2019; Gil‐Miravet et al, 2021). For the current sample, the reliability of the LSRPS total score was good (Cronbach's alpha = 0.746).…”

“…Total scores range from 26 to 104. The LSRPS psychopathy has been used by previous researchers to investigate psychopathy traits among patients with schizophrenia (e.g., Fuertes-Saiz et al, 2019;Gil-Miravet et al, 2021).…”