KARLA MATHIAS DE ALMEIDA
Projetos de Pesquisa
Unidades Organizacionais
Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina - Médico
LIM/21 - Laboratório de Neuroimagem em Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina
LIM/21 - Laboratório de Neuroimagem em Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina
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- Gray matter volumes in patients with bipolar disorder and their first-degree relatives(2015) NERY, Fabiano G.; GIGANTE, Alexandre Duarte; AMARAL, Jose A.; FERNANDES, Francy B. F.; BERUTTI, Mariangeles; ALMEIDA, Karla M.; CARNEIROC, Camila de Godoi; DURAN, Fabio Luis Souza; OTADUY, Maria G.; LEITE, Claudia Costa; BUSATTO, Geraldo; LAFER, BenyBipolar disorder (BD) is highly heritable. First-degree relatives of BD patient have an increased risk to develop the disease. We investigated abnormalities in gray matter (GM) volumes in healthy first-degree relatives of BD patients to identify possible brain structural endophenotypes for the disorder. 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were obtained from 25 DSM-IV BD type I patients, 23 unaffected relatives, and 27 healthy controls (HC). A voxel-based morphometry protocol was used to compare differences in GM volumes between groups. BD patients presented reduced GM volumes bilaterally in the thalamus compared with HC. Relatives presented no global or regional GM differences compared with HC. Our negative results do not support the role of GM volume abnormalities as endophenotypes for BD. Thalamic volume abnormalities may be associated the pathophysiology of the disease.
- Facial emotion recognition in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder and their unaffected first-degree relatives(2016) FERNANDES, Franey de Brito Ferreira; GIGANTE, Alexandre Duarte; BERUTTIA, Mariangeles; AMARAL, Jose Antonio; ALMEIDA, Karla Mathias de; ROCCA, Cristiana Castanho de Almeida; LAFER, Beny; NERY, Fabiano GoncalvesBackground: Facial emotion recognition (FER) is an important task associated with social cognition because facial expression is a significant source of non-verbal information that guides interpersonal relationships. Increasing evidence suggests that bipolar disorder (BD) patients present deficits in FER and these deficits may be present in individuals at high genetic risk for BD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of FER deficits in euthymic BD patients, their first-degree relatives, and healthy controls (HC) and to consider if these deficits might be regarded as an endophenotype candidate for BD. Methods: We studied 23 patients with DSM-IV BD type I, 22 first-degree relatives of these patients, and 27 HC. We used the Penn Emotion Recognition Tests to evaluate tasks of FER, emotion discrimination, and emotional acuity. Patients were recruited from outpatient facilities at the Institute of Psychiatry of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School, or from the community through media advertisements, had to be euthymic, with age above 18 years old and a diagnosis of DSM-IV BD type I. Results: Euthymic BD patients presented significantly fewer correct responses for fear, and significantly increased time to response to recognize happy faces when compared with HC, but not when compared with first-degree relatives. First-degree relatives did not significantly differ from HC on any of the emotion recognition tasks. Conclusion: Our results suggest that deficits in FER are present in euthymic patients, but not in subjects at high genetic risk for BD. Thus, we have not found evidence to consider FER as an endophenotype candidate for BD.
- Serum BDNF levels in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar disorder(2016) NERY, Fabiano G.; GIGANTE, Alexandre D.; AMARAL, Jose A.; FERNANDES, Francy B.; BERUTTI, Mariangeles; ALMEIDA, Karla M.; STERTZ, Laura; BRISTOT, Giovana; KAPCZINSKI, Flavio; LAFER, BenyObjective: Unaffected relatives of bipolar disorder (BD) patients have been investigated for the identification of endophenotypes in an attempt to further elucidate the pathophysiology of the disease. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is considered to be implicated in the pathophysiology of BD, but its role as an endophenotype has been poorly studied. We investigated abnormal serum BDNF levels in BD patients, in their unaffected relatives, and in healthy controls. Methods: BDNF levels were obtained from 25 DSM-IV bipolar I disorder patients, 23 unaffected relatives, and 27 healthy controls. All BD patients were in remission. The unaffected subjects were first-degree relatives of the proband who had no lifetime DSM-IV diagnosis of axis I disorder. BDNF serum levels were determined by sandwich ELISA using monoclonal BDNF-specific antibodies. Results: There were no statistical differences in BDNF levels among BD patients, relatives, and healthy controls. Conclusion: Serum BDNF levels may not indicate high genetic risk for BD, possibly acting as state markers rather than trait markers of the disease.