The niacin skin flush test in schizophrenia: a replication study.
The aim of this study was to confirm a recent report that the non-invasive niacin skin flush test can be used to demonstrate impaired arachidonic acid-related signal transduction in schizophrenia. The response to topical aqueous methyl nicotinate solution was recorded at five-minute intervals over 20 minutes in 21 patients with schizophrenia, and in 20 age- and sex-matched normal individuals with no personal or family psychiatric history. The response was significantly lower in the patients with schizophrenia. At a concentration of 0.001 M, at the 15-minute timepoint, only two out of the 21 patients with schizophrenia showed a response, compared with 15 out of 20 of the controls (p < 0.00002), giving a sensitivity of the niacin skin test of 90% and a specificity of 75%. Our results are therefore consistent with the previous published report and suggest that this test may be useful clinically in the diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Puri
B K
BK
MRI Unit, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London.
Easton
T
T
Das
I
I
Kidane
L
L
Richardson
A J
AJ
D000287:Administration, Topical; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000502:physiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005483:Flushing / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009525:Niacin; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012882:Skin Tests / Q000379:methods*
D009525:Niacin; D016718:Arachidonic Acid