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of opioids, from 50 to 99 milligrams a day, were dangerous if the in May 2015 in The American Journal of Psychiatry. The findings
patient filled prescriptions totaling the equivalent of at least 1,830 are particularly encouraging, given the increasing rates of suicide
milligrams of morphine over a six-month period. Patients pre- in veterans after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
scribed more than four to six weeks of even moderate doses of
opioids often reach this risky level. Preserving Brain Function after Stroke
New research suggests that an anti-convulsant drug already ap-
Dr. Turner is also director of the Center for Research to Ad-
vance Community Health, also known as the ReACH Center, proved for epilepsy could preserve brain tissue after a stroke. In
which is working with community and state and federal programs the study, one dose of the anti-epilepsy drug, Retigabine, pre-
to bring alternatives to medications for treatment of chronic pain, served brain tissue in a mouse model of stroke and prevented the
including behavioral counseling and physical therapy. The re- loss of balance control and motor coordination.
searchers’ two articles were published in the August 15, 2015 print
edition of The Journal of General Internal Medicine and the July Hours after a stroke, both treated mice and a control group of
2015 edition of The Journal of Hospital Medicine. mice were placed on a balance beam to observe motor coordina-
tion. The untreated mice displayed a pronounced loss of coordi-
Research Imaging Institute’s BrainMap nation with slips and falls.
The School of Medicine’s Research Imaging Institute (RII),
Treated mice had no difficulty with balance, ambulation or
under the direction of director Peter T. Fox, M.D., and the insti- turning around on the beam. Histological analysis of the brain
tute’s BrainMap program, have played a significant role in another tissue of treated mice showed significantly reduced damage to the
important study; this one on similar brain abnormalities in people tissue after the stroke, compared to untreated mice. The protective
with schizophrenia, depression and addiction. Researchers from effects of the medication were observed in treated mice up to five
Stanford University and the University of Cambridge led the stud- days later.
ies which utilized the brain atrophy section of BrainMap, a data-
base of published functional and structural neuroimaging Senior author was Mark S. Shapiro, Ph.D., Professor of Physi-
experiments that is maintained here at the RII. The BrainMap ology, and Sonya Bierbower, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow, was
program was begun in 1988 and has been used in nearly 600 pub- lead author of the report. The study, “Augmentation of M-Type
lished studies. The new study found similar gray-matter loss in (KCNQ) Potassium Channels as a Novel Strategy to Reduce
the brains of study participants with diverse diagnoses. The studies Stroke-Induced Brain Injury,” was published in the February 3,
appear in the February 4, 2015 issue of JAMA Psychiatry. Visit 2015, edition of The Journal of Neuroscience.
www.BrainMap.org to learn more.
Reducing Potassium in Kidney
PTSD and Suicide Reduction Disease Treatments
Professor of Psychiatry Alan Peterson, Ph.D., co-investigator
New research from the School’s Nephrology Division has the
on a new study, has found that short-term cognitive behavioral potential to dramatically improve the lives of people with chronic
therapy dramatically reduces suicide attempts among at-risk mil- kidney disease. The study was published in both the New England
itary personnel. The two-year study involved 152 active-duty sol- Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and the Journal of the American
diers who had either attempted suicide or had been determined Medical Association (JAMA). Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone
to be at high risk for suicide, and evaluated the effectiveness of a System Inhibitors (RAASI) are a standard treatment to protect
brief cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in preventing future sui- the heart and kidney in patients with chronic kidney disease, a
cide attempts. The study found that soldiers receiving CBT were very common comorbidity of diabetes. A significant percentage
60 percent less likely to make a suicide attempt during the 24- of patients using the drug develop dangerously high potassium
month follow-up than those receiving standard treatment. The levels in the blood (hyperkalemia) that puts them at a risk for car-
article, “Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Effects on Post-Treat- diac arrhythmias. The only solution to reduce the risk is stopping
ment Suicide Attempts in a Military Sample: Results of a Ran- the RASSI or having the patient undergo kidney dialysis, which
domized Clinical Trial With 2-Year Follow-Up,” was published carries its own problems.
Wajeh Y. Qunibi, M.D., a Professor of Medicine and UT Med-
icine nephrologist, is one of the investigators in a study using ZS-
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