Introduction: Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder with an important genetic contribution. Immunological abnormalities have been reported in schizophrenia. Toll-like receptor (TLR) genes play an important role in the activation of the innate immune response, which may help to explain the presence of inflammation in people with this disorder. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of TLR1, TLR2, and TLR6 gene polymorphisms in the etiology of schizophrenia. Methods: We included 582 patients with schizophrenia and 525 healthy controls. Genetic analysis was performed using allelic discrimination with TaqMan probes. Results: We observed significant differences between patients and controls in the genotype and allele frequencies of TLR1/rs4833093 (χ 2 = 17.3, p = 0.0002; χ 2 = 15.9, p = 0.0001, respectively) and TLR2/rs5743709 (χ 2 = 29.5, p = 0.00001; χ 2 = 7.785, p = 0.0053, respectively), and in the allele frequencies of TLR6/rs3775073 (χ 2 = 31.1, p = 0.00001). Finally, we found an interaction between the TLR1/rs4833093 and TLR2/rs5743709 genes, which increased the risk of developing schizophrenia (OR = 2.29, 95% CI [1.75, 3.01]). Discussion: Our findings add to the evidence suggesting that the activation of innate immune response might play an important role in the development of schizophrenia.

The pharmacological treatment of depression consists of taking antidepressant drugs for prolonged periods; its modest therapeutic effect can often be associated with significant adverse effects, while its discontinuation can lead to relapses. Psilocybin is today a novel and breakthrough therapy for major depression. It is a natural alkaloid in Psilocybe mushrooms, which are endemic to Mexico. Research on a larger scale is lacking in various populations, including the Mexican people. This proposal contemplates the experimental design of a preclinical (toxicity and pharmacological evaluation of an extract in mice) and clinical study by including the chemical analysis of a species of Psilocybe cubensis mushroom to characterize its main constituents. The clinical study will consider the safety evaluation by exploring tolerated doses of Psilocybe cubensis by measuring pharmacokinetic parameters after oral administration in healthy adults and an open trial on a sample of patients with major depressive disorder to assess the safety and efficacy of fully characterized Psilocybe cubensis in a two-single doses treatment, (with assisted psychotherapy), compared with the traditional care model at the Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz in Mexico City. This report presents the design of a research project with preclinical and clinical experimental components.

Background: Schizophrenia, one of the most disabling disorders worldwide, is characterized by impaired empathy, which appears to be more common in women. Methods: This study aimed to compare empathy levels between control subjects and patients with schizophrenia by sex. We compared sixty-two patients with schizophrenia and 166 control subjects. All participants completed the Empathy Quotient (EQ) questionnaire. A multivariate analysis of variance model was performed with the EQ as the outcome criterion, and group and sex as fixed factors to test for interaction effects. Results: Overall, patients obtained lower scores in the cognitive, emotional reactivity and social skills domains of empathy (p < 0.001). No differences between men and women were found and no interaction effect was identified between sex and group (schizophrenia vs. control) (p > 0.05). Conclusion: This study adds to the evidence on differences in social cognition between people with and without a mental illness such as schizophrenia. It also identifies the absence of sex differences between men and women, observed in both the group of patients and control subjects, which warrants further exploration.

Introduction: schizophrenia is accompanied by deficits such as alterations in social perception. Alexithymia, the impairment to express emotions or feelings, is an emotional communicative deficit common to schizophrenia. Objective: to evaluate the ability to perceive social cues, interpersonal attitudes and the communication of intentions by nonverbal expressive channels in patients with schizophrenia when compared with a control group. Method: a cross-sectional, comparative study (102 subjects, aged 18 to 45). The first group consisted of 50 patients with schizophrenia, (48% men) according to DSM-5 criteria. The second group consisted of 52 subjects (51.9% men) without psychopathology or history of mental disorders in first degree relatives, neurological deficits and intellectual disabilities. MiniPONS was used to assess social perception and the TAS-20 scale was used to assess alexithymia. We used χ2 and Student’s t-tests, and an analysis of variance of two factors (group-sex) was used for MiniPONS and TAS scores. We searched for correlations between MiniPONS, alexithymia and PANSS. Results: we found a significant correlation between education and MiniPONS and TAS scores in the schizophrenia group: r = .36, p < .01 and r = -.46, p < .01, but not in the control group: r = .17, p = .41 and r = -.08, p = .71. The schizophrenia group performed worse on the MiniPONS: 39.90, SD = 5.99. Discussion and conclusions: our results show a worse overall performance in nonverbal communication and affect identification in the patient group. These failures exemplify the difficulty of understanding their own emotions.

Mushroom use dates back to ancient times, and it currently remains significant among indigenous and urban populations as a medicinal option. Psilocybe species are suggested to modify emotions when administered in macro- or microdose form for the treatment of anxiety and depression, both often affected by a delayed onset and adverse effects of current pharmacological therapy. The objective of this study was to evaluate the anxiolytic and/or antidepressant-like effects of P. cubensis mushroom aqueous extract (PcAE) microdosing in mice using open-field and rota-rod tests, followed by plus-maze or forced swimming tests. We also evaluated changes in neuronal activity and dendritic maturation using electrocorticography (ECoG) and immunohistochemical techniques. The outcomes were compared with an effective macrodose of PcAE and antidepressant fluoxetine (FLX). For this study, mice were grouped as follows: (1) vehicle, (2) acute, and (3) repeated (10 days) PcAE microdosing (1 µg/kg); (4) single PcAE macrodose (1 g/kg); and (5) acute and (6) repeated reference drug fluoxetine (FLX, 10 mg/kg).The anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects using microdosing were similar to those observed with macrodoses of PcAE and FLX; significant dose- and/or time-dependent changes in the ECoG and dendritic maturation of hippocampus neurons were also observed, in addition to altered corticosterone levels. To conclude, P. cubensis mushroom promotes brain effects in mice after micro- and macrodosing, supporting its potential as a therapeutic alternative for mental health.