Estrogen - A Potential New Treatment for Women & Men with Schizophrenia

雌性激素——主要的雌性激素，已经在动物实验中被证明可以减少两种主要的大脑化学物质（多巴胺和血清素），这两种化学物质与导致精神分裂症有关。雌激素在大脑中的作用与目前的抗精神病药物相似。我们进行的一项研究表明当我们给12名患有精神分裂症的年轻女性100微克的雌激素加上标准的抗精神病药物治疗时她们比12名只接受标准抗精神病药物治疗的年轻女性恢复得更快。100微克是安全剂量的雌激素。在本提案中，我们希望通过对60名精神分裂症女性患者进行为期28天的试验来扩大和澄清初步研究结果。30名妇女接受100 MCG皮肤贴片雌激素加抗精神病药物治疗，30名妇女只接受抗精神病药物治疗。我们还测试了5名精神分裂症患者在抗精神病药物治疗中加入非常小剂量口服雌激素的价值，发现他们比只接受标准抗精神病药物治疗的5名男性恢复得更好。我们在男性身上试验使用雌激素7天，但这可能还不够长，不足以检验雌激素治疗对男性的真正影响。在这个提议中，我们想对60名精神分裂症患者进行为期14天的试验。30名男性接受2mg口服雌激素和抗精神病药物治疗，他们的结果将与30名接受标准抗精神病药物治疗和外观与雌激素相同的安慰剂片的男性进行比较。14天内，这种低剂量的雌激素是非常安全的。雌激素可能是目前精神分裂症标准治疗的有用补充。它可以缩短急性疾病的持续时间，对妇女来说，它可能在预防精神分裂症复发以及改善精神分裂症妇女的总体健康方面发挥作用。

Estrogen - the major female hormone, has been shown in animal studies to decrease the two main brain chemicals (dopamine and serotonin) that are implicated in causing schizophrenia. The effect of estrogen in the brain is similar to current antipsychotic drugs. We have carried out a study that showed that when we gave 12 young women with schizophrenia 100 micrograms of estrogen in a skin patch form plus standard antipsychotic drug treament they recovered more quickly than 12 young women who received standard antipsychotic drug treatment only. 100mcg is a safe dose of estrogen. In this proposal we want to expand and clarify the pilot study resutls by conducting a 28 day trial in a total of 60 women with schizophrenia. 30 women would receive 100 mcg skin patch estrogen plus antipsychotic medication and 30 women would receive antipsychotic medicationly only. We also tested the value of adding a very small dose of oral estrogen to antipsychotic drug treatment in five men with schizophrenia and found that they made a better recovery compared to five men who received standard antipsychotic drugs only. We trialled the use of estrogen for seven days in men, but this may not have been long enough to examine the real impact of estrogen treatment in men. In this proposal we want to conduct a 14 day trial in a total of 60 men with schizophrenia. 30 men would receive 2mg of oral estrogen plus antipsychotic drug treatment and their results would be compared with 30 men who received standard antipsychotic drug treatment plus a placebo tablet identical in appearance to estrogen. For 14 days, this low dose of estrogen is very safe. Potentially estrogen may be a useful addition to the current standard treatment of schizophrenia. It may decrease the duration of acute illness and in women it may have a role in preventing relapses of schizophrenia as well as improving the general health of women with schizophrenia.