title: Increased mRNA levels of the mitochondrial complex I 75-kDa subunit. A potential peripheral marker of early onset schizophrenia?
abstract: Recently, the dopamine D3-receptor mRNA on blood lymphocytes and platelet mitochondrial complex I were suggested as biological markers of schizophrenia in adults. We investigated the mRNA level of the dopamine D3-receptor and complex I subunits in whole blood cells of early-onset schizophrenic patients compared to healthy controls using quantitative real-time PCR. We found an increased mRNA expression of the complex I 75-kDa subunit (referred to beta-actin in schizophrenic patients (0.57 +/- 0.24 versus 0.23 +/- 0.18 in controls, P < 0.01)), but were unable to analyse the dopamine D3-mRNA expression. This increase appears to be inherent to schizophrenia, because it was found in neuroleptic-naive patients and it was not affected by neuroleptic treatment. Our preliminary findings suggest the mitochondrial complex I as a potential peripheral marker of schizophrenia and its involvement in the pathophysiology of this illness.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstr. 15, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. mehler@kjp.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mehler-Wex
authors.forename: J Catharina
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Duvigneau
authors.forename: Romana T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Hartl
authors.forename: Dorit
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ben-Shachar
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warnke
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerlach
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000097:blood; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D042967:Electron Transport Complex I / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D021122:Protein Subunits; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood*; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3; D042967:Electron Transport Complex I