title: Psychopathological and peripheral levels of neurobiological correlates of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in patients with epilepsy: a hospital-based study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCSs) and disorder (OCD) are often underdiagnosed in the out-patient epilepsy clinic. This work aimed at determining the risks and comorbidities (psychopathological and neurobiological correlates) of OCSs in treated adults with idiopathic epilepsy recruited from a university hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Psychiatric evaluation was done using DSM-IV (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders). Obsessive-compulsive disorder was identified using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) were used to determine the severity of the related psychiatric symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 474 patients screened, included in this study were 107 with no psychiatric symptoms and 188 with OCSs [classified as those with at least OCSs=93; mild OCSs=36; moderate, severe, and extreme OCSs=59]. A hundred healthy subjects were included as controls. Blood concentrations of serotonin, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine were measured. Compared with controls, patients with OCSs had higher frequencies of depression and anxiety. Low concentrations of serotonin, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine were reported regardless of the presence or the absence of psychiatric symptoms, OCS severities, and antiepileptic drug (AED)-related variables (dose and serum drug level). Significant correlations were identified between Y-BOCS, BDI-II, and HAM-A scores, age, age at onset, and concentrations of noradrenaline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates that a) OCSs are common in patients with epilepsy. Male sex, age, duration of illness, seizure focus, lateralization, and intractability to AEDs are its main risks; b) depression and anxiety are comorbid psychopathologies; and c) serotonin, catecholamines, and dopamine are linked to epilepsy-related variables and its comorbid psychopathies but not to its medications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt. hamed_sherifa@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Sherifa A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hamed
authors.forename: Yasser M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Elserogy
authors.forename: Heba A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Abd-Elhafeez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000097:blood*; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines