Searched for: in-biosketch:true
person:pomarn01
Increased CSF HVA response to arecoline challenge in Alzheimer's disease
Pomara N; Stanley M; LeWitt PA; Galloway M; Singh R; Deptula D
The effects of the muscarinic agonist, arecoline, on the concentration of homovanillic acid (HVA) in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and controls were examined. Patients and controls received intravenous infusions of arecoline and a lumbar puncture was performed four hours after the infusion began. Arecoline induced a significant increase in the concentration of HVA in cerebrospinal fluid of Alzheimer's disease patients (p < .01) but not in controls. The differential HVA response to a muscarinic agonist in Alzheimer's disease is suggestive of an alteration in muscarinic receptor response. This finding may have potential implications for the pathophysiology and treatment of Alzheimer's disease
PMID: 1281646
ISSN: n/a
CID: 23694
Pretreatment postural blood pressure drop as a possible predictor of response to the cholinesterase inhibitor velnacrine (HP 029) in Alzheimer's disease
Pomara N; Deptula D; Singh R
The failure of cholinesterase inhibitors to produce noticeable improvement in about half of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) may result from heterogeneity of neurotransmitter abnormalities in this disorder. This study examined whether pretreatment postural blood pressure (BP) drop, which presumably reflects sympathetic response, differed in patients who were responders or nonresponders to the cholinesterase inhibitor, HP 029. Twenty-three AD patients completed a double-blind dose-finding phase of a clinical trial in which four doses of HP 029 and placebo were administered. Evaluation for efficacy occurred after 7 days of treatment at each dose. Of the 23 patients, 12 were classified as responders in the dose-ranging phase of the study. Nonresponders demonstrated significantly greater decreases in pretreatment systolic postural BPs when going from a supine to sitting position than did responders. The greater postural BP drop in nonresponders may identify a subgroup of AD patients that responds poorly to cholinesterase inhibitors
PMID: 1775603
ISSN: 0048-5764
CID: 23695
Cognitive toxicity of benzodiazepines in the elderly
Chapter by: Pomara, Nunzio; Deptula, Dennis; Singh, Rajkumar; Monroy, Cherry Ann
in: Anxiety in the elderly: Treatment and research by Salzman, Carl [Eds]
New York, NY, US: Springer Publishing Co, 1991
pp. 175-196
ISBN: 0-8261-7090-0
CID: 4795
Equivalence of five forms of the Selective Reminding Test in young and elderly subjects
Deptula D; Singh R; Goldsmith S; Block R; Bagne CA; Pomara N
This study evaluated the equivalence of five forms of the Selective Reminding Test, a widely used measure of verbal learning, 45 normal young and 45 normal elderly subjects were randomly administered three of the five test forms on three separate sessions. The five forms generally correlated well with one another and were of comparable difficulty, suggesting adequate test equivalence. Four of the five forms were particularly well matched
PMID: 2084755
ISSN: 0033-2941
CID: 14269
ALTERATIONS IN EXCITATORY AMINO-ACID-CONCENTRATIONS IN CSF OF PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE [Meeting Abstract]
POMARA N; DEPTULA D; SINGH R; LEWITT PA; BANAYSCHWARTZ M
ISI:A1990DC95200150
ISSN: 0197-4580
CID: 130875
POSTURAL BLOOD-PRESSURE DROP AS A POSSIBLE PREDICTOR OF RESPONSE TO CHOLINERGIC THERAPY IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE [Meeting Abstract]
POMARA N; DEPTULA D; SINGH R; DESIMONE P
ISI:A1990DC95200380
ISSN: 0197-4580
CID: 130874
Effects of antidepressants on human performance: a review
Deptula D; Pomara N
Despite widespread use of antidepressants, major gaps remain in our knowledge of the effects of antidepressants on human performance. While most single-dose studies with normal subjects have suggested that the more sedating tricyclic antidepressants tend to produce impairment, the effects of antidepressant treatment in clinical populations have been less thoroughly examined, with both drug-induced impairment and improvement reported. This review suggests that factors such as age, diagnosis, drug plasma concentration, and length of treatment need to be explored to establish the effects of antidepressants on performance in clinical populations
PMID: 2187911
ISSN: 0271-0749
CID: 23696
CSF corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in Alzheimer's disease: its relationship to severity of dementia and monoamine metabolites
Pomara N; Singh RR; Deptula D; LeWitt PA; Bissette G; Stanley M; Nemeroff CB
The concentration of corticotropin-releasing factor-like immunoreactivity (CRF-LI) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 15 probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with mild to moderate dementia and 10 neurologically normal age-matched controls was examined. There were no significant alterations in the mean CSF CRF-LI concentration in AD compared to controls. However, in the AD group, CSF CRF-LI correlated significantly with the global neuropsychological impairment ratings, suggesting that greater cognitive impairment was associated with lower CSF CRF-LI concentrations. There was a significant reduction in the CSF concentration of homovanillic acid (HVA) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the AD patients, and there was a positive correlation between the concentration of CRF-LI and 5-HIAA in CSF. This latter finding suggests that serotoninergic neuronal systems may interact with CRF-containing neurons
PMID: 2477071
ISSN: 0006-3223
CID: 23697
CSF GABA in caregiver spouses of Alzheimer patients
Pomara N; Deptula D; Galloway MP; LeWitt PA; Stanley M
The authors studied CSF gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in 14 Alzheimer patients and nine age-matched normal subjects. The five normal subjects who were wives of the demented patients had higher CSF GABA concentrations than the four normal subjects without demented spouses
PMID: 2729431
ISSN: 0002-953x
CID: 23698
Effects of diazepam on recall memory: relationship to aging, dose, and duration of treatment
Pomara N; Deptula D; Medel M; Block RI; Greenblatt DJ
PMID: 2772114
ISSN: 0048-5764
CID: 23699