title: Homocysteine levels in newly admitted schizophrenic patients.
abstract: We previously found a marked elevation of plasma homocysteine in young male schizophrenic patients in hospital. It seemed important to determine if this finding is already present in newly admitted schizophrenic patients. Serum homocysteine levels were studied in 184 consecutively admitted schizophrenic patients and 305 control subjects from an employee screening program. Homocysteine levels were markedly increased in this population of newly admitted schizophrenic patients, especially in young males. Newly admitted male schizophrenic patients have elevated homocysteine levels that cannot be explained on the basis of poor hospital nutrition. Smoking may raise homocysteine by 1-2 microM/L but this is not a large enough effect to explain our findings.
authors.affiliation: Beer-Sheba Mental Health Center, Stanley Research Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Applebaum
authors.forename: Hady
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimon
authors.forename: Ben-Ami
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Sela
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Belmaker
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006710:Homocysteine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D006710:Homocysteine