David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Omega-3 levels in orbitofrontal cortex linked to schizophrenia
03 April 2007
Schizophr Res 2007; 91: 37?50
Deficiency of omega-3 fatty acid in the orbitofrontal cortex (OBC) appears to play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, say US researchers.
The findings suggest that such deficiencies are gender-specific and partially normalized by antipsychotic medications, they add.
Patients with drug-na?ve, first-episode schizophrenia have been shown in previous studies to have significant abnormalities in the fatty acid composition of peripheral tissues, particularly in omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. These abnormalities are partially normalized by chronic antipsychotic treatment.
Robert McNamara, from University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio, and colleagues determined the total fatty acid composition of OFCs obtained at postmortem from 21 drug-free and antipsychotic-treated schizophrenia patients and 26 age-matched controls.
Using gas chromatography and correcting for multiple comparisons, the team found that the OFC of schizophrenia patients had 20% lower docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentrations and 12.5% greater levels of vacceinic acid (VA) than controls, the team notes in the journal Schizophrenia Research.
Further analysis showed that male patients had deficits in DHA in the OFC, along with increased ratios of arachidonic acid (AA) to DHA and oleic acid (OA) to DHA compared with male controls. However, no such differences were found in female patients.
Schizophrenia patients who had died of cardiovascular diseases had 31% lower DHA and 19% lower AA concentrations, along with 20% greater OA and 17% higher VA levels, than their peers without schizophrenia.
Furthermore, the DHA and AA deficits, and increases in OA and VA, in the OFC were numerically greater in drug-free schizophrenia patients than in those treated with antipsychotic medications. The alterations in patients treated with antipsychotic medication were partially normalized.
It was also found that the abnormalities could be attributed wholly to lifestyle factors or postmortem tissue variables.
The team writes: "The present data therefore have implications for future clinical trials because they would suggest, for example, that drug-free male schizophrenia patients would exhibit the greatest benefit from omega-3 fatty acid treatment, whereas atypical antipsychotic-treated female schizophrenia patients would exhibit the least benefit."
Free abstract
03 April 2007
Schizophr Res 2007; 91: 37?50
Deficiency of omega-3 fatty acid in the orbitofrontal cortex (OBC) appears to play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, say US researchers.
The findings suggest that such deficiencies are gender-specific and partially normalized by antipsychotic medications, they add.
Patients with drug-na?ve, first-episode schizophrenia have been shown in previous studies to have significant abnormalities in the fatty acid composition of peripheral tissues, particularly in omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. These abnormalities are partially normalized by chronic antipsychotic treatment.
Robert McNamara, from University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio, and colleagues determined the total fatty acid composition of OFCs obtained at postmortem from 21 drug-free and antipsychotic-treated schizophrenia patients and 26 age-matched controls.
Using gas chromatography and correcting for multiple comparisons, the team found that the OFC of schizophrenia patients had 20% lower docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentrations and 12.5% greater levels of vacceinic acid (VA) than controls, the team notes in the journal Schizophrenia Research.
Further analysis showed that male patients had deficits in DHA in the OFC, along with increased ratios of arachidonic acid (AA) to DHA and oleic acid (OA) to DHA compared with male controls. However, no such differences were found in female patients.
Schizophrenia patients who had died of cardiovascular diseases had 31% lower DHA and 19% lower AA concentrations, along with 20% greater OA and 17% higher VA levels, than their peers without schizophrenia.
Furthermore, the DHA and AA deficits, and increases in OA and VA, in the OFC were numerically greater in drug-free schizophrenia patients than in those treated with antipsychotic medications. The alterations in patients treated with antipsychotic medication were partially normalized.
It was also found that the abnormalities could be attributed wholly to lifestyle factors or postmortem tissue variables.
The team writes: "The present data therefore have implications for future clinical trials because they would suggest, for example, that drug-free male schizophrenia patients would exhibit the greatest benefit from omega-3 fatty acid treatment, whereas atypical antipsychotic-treated female schizophrenia patients would exhibit the least benefit."
Free abstract