Reduced D-serine to total serine ratio in the cerebrospinal fluid of drug naive schizophrenic patients.
Several lines of evidence suggest that D-serine, an endogenous agonist of the glycine site on the NMDA receptors, might play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to determine whether levels of D- and L-serine or D-serine ratio (D-serine/total serine) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were altered in first episode and drug-naive schizophrenic patients. The CSF levels of D- and L-serine in 25 male first episode and drug-naive schizophrenic patients and 17 age-matched male healthy subjects were measured using a column-switching high performance liquid chromatography system. The percentage of D-serine in the total serine of patients was significantly (z = -2.01, p = 0.044) lower than that of controls. This study suggests that synthetic or metabolic pathways of D-serine may be abnormal in the brain of drug-naive schizophrenic patients, supporting the NMDA receptor dysfunction hypothesis of schizophrenia.
Hashimoto
Kenji
K
Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan. hashimoto@faculty.chiba-u.jp
Engberg
Göran
G
Shimizu
Eiji
E
Nordin
Conny
C
Lindström
Leif H
LH
Iyo
Masaomi
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000378:metabolism; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D012694:Serine / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D013237:Stereoisomerism
D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D012694:Serine