Robert H Yolken

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the effect of elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and exposure to Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) on the severity of cognitive impairment in individuals with schizophrenia.

METHODS: We measured the levels of CRP and of antibodies to HSV-1 in serum samples from 588 individuals with schizophrenia by enzyme immunoassay tests. Cognitive functioning was measured with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and ...

Importance: Infections have been associated with increased risks for mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression. However, the association between all infections requiring treatment and the wide range of mental disorders is unknown to date.

Objective: To investigate the association between all treated infections since birth and the subsequent risk of development of any treated mental disorder during childhood and adolescence.

Design, Setting, and Participants: Population-based ...

Abstract.We investigated the levels of antibodies to infectious

agents in the serum and cerebral spinal fluids (CSFs) of

individuals with recent onset schizophrenia and compared these

levels to those of controls without psychiatric disease. We found

that untreated individuals with recent onset schizophrenia had

significantly increased levels of serum and CSF IgG antibody to

cytomegalovirus and Toxoplasma

gondii as compared to controls. The levels of serum

IgM class antibodies to these ...

BACKGROUND: In a previous investigation, we found an association between reduced cognitive functioning and the prevalence of antibodies to herpes simplex virus type 1 in individuals with schizophrenia. The current study was undertaken to determine if this association also occurs in individuals with bipolar disorder.

METHODS: Cognitive functioning and serologic evidence of infection with potentially neurotropic herpesviruses were measured in 117 individuals with bipolar disorder and in ...

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the prevalence of cigarette smoking and the quantity of cigarettes consumed by individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and by those with no psychiatric disorder in the period 1999-2011.

METHODS: A total of 991 individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or no psychiatric illness provided information about their cigarette smoking at recruitment into a research study for which they were selected without regard to their smoking status. ...

OBJECTIVES: To describe and to evaluate the longitudinal growth of children born to mothers with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

DESIGN: Measurements of weight, length (measured in infants in a recumbent position) and height (measured in older children in an upright position), and head circumference were documented and evaluated longitudinally using generalized estimating equations in a group of children born to HIV-infected mothers. Children infected with HIV were compared ...

An approximate 10% suspension in water of the first available stool sample from 411 infants and young children with acute gastroenteritis was examined by electron microscopy (EM) after 2 min of negative staining. This procedure enabled the detection of 88% of the 199 rotavirus infections, all of the 22 adenovirus infections, and 47% of the 15 approximately 27-nm virus infections ultimately detected by a combination of techniques, including immune electron microscopy (IEM) and rotavirus ...

Influenza A virus infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Standard diagnostic methods either are not efficient in identifying infected individuals in a timely manner or lack sensitivity. We developed a PCR-enzyme immunoassay (PCR-EIA) for the detection of influenza A virus RNA in respiratory secretions. A reverse transcription PCR was performed with oligonucleotide primers directed at a highly conserved area of the influenza A matrix gene. Amplified DNA was ...

Increasingly, abnormalities of glial cell function have been implicated in pathological studies of the major mental illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression). In a recent proteomic study, four isoforms of astrocytic glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were decreased in one or more of these diseases. In the current study, we sought to determine the immunohistochemical localization of phosphorylated GFAP (pGFAP) in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus and to ...

Cognitive impairment is a core feature of schizophrenia. Previous studies have indicated that exposure to neurotropic infectious agents such as Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 may contribute to cognitive deficits and neuroanatomical abnormalities in individuals with schizophrenia. We examined the association between exposure to neurotropic infectious agents and cognitive function in 1308 participants in the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) trial. This ...

BACKGROUND: Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) has been associated with anatomical and motility-related abnormalities. Specifically, obesity has been postulated to alter small bowel motility, leading to SIBO.

AIMS: (i) Assess the prevalence of SIBO in obesity; (ii) determine the relationship of obesity and SIBO, using small bowel transit time (SBTT) and pH; (iii) profile the gut microbiome in obese and non-obese patients with SIBO.

METHODS: Thirty consecutive participants ...

BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder is associated with deficits in cognitive functioning. The etiology of cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder may relate to both genetic and environmental factors. A valine/methionine polymorphism of the catechol O-methyltransferase gene at amino acid 158 (COMT Val158Met polymorphism) has been identified as a risk factor for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Serological evidence of infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has also been ...

Latent infection with neurotropic herpes viruses, such as herpes simplex virus, type 1 (HSV1), has been generally considered benign in most immunocompetent individuals except for rare cases of encephalitis. However, several recent studies have shown impaired cognitive functions among individuals with schizophrenia exposed to HSV1 compared with schizophrenia patients not exposed to HSV1. Such impairments are robust and are prominently observed in working memory, verbal memory, and ...