Sedation

Nurses' Assessment of Sedation of Patients With Mental Illness: Scale Development and Validation

The current study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of a tool for evaluating the sedation of patients with mental illness. A literature review and focus group interviews were used to develop the initial questionnaire. The scale was tested on a sample of 412 representative patients and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, concurrent validity, and internal consistency. The final scale comprised 14 items across four factors related to sedation of patients with mental illness: arousal, affect, cognitive status, and physical performance. The scale has high sensitivity and specificity and can discriminate among levels of sedation for patients with mental illness. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 58(12), 22-31.].

Neurotensin agonists as an alternative to antipsychotics

Neurotensin (NT) is a 13 amino acid neuropeptide that is found in the central nervous system and in the gastrointestinal tract. In brain, this peptide is prominently associated anatomically with dopaminergic, as well as other neurotransmitter systems. Based on animal studies, already decades old, researchers have hypothesised that NT receptor agonists will have antipsychotic properties in patients. However, to date no one has obtained a non-peptide NT receptor agonist. Therefore, there has been great interest in obtaining peptide analogues of NT, that, unlike NT resist degradation by peptidases and cross the blood-brain barrier, yet have the pharmacological characteristics of native NT, for therapeutic use in the treatment of schizophrenia, as well as other neuropsychiatric diseases such as Parkinson's disease and addiction to psychostimulants. In this review, we present the rationale for development of NT receptor agonists for treatment of certain central nervous system diseases, as well as a review of those peptide agonists that are in early stages of development.