Pyridoxal plasma level in schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients with and without tardive dyskinesia.
BACKGROUND
Motor disturbances in vitamin B6-deficient animals were described. Some clinical experiments showed that vitamin B6 may ameliorate different drug-induced movement disorders, including tardive dyskinesia (TD). The aim of this study was to compare plasma pyridoxal-5-phosphate (PLP) levels in schizophrenic patients with and without TD.


METHODS
This study was conducted in the Be'er Sheva Mental Health Center from February 2006 to August 2006. Eighty-nine schizophrenic inpatients (40 have TD, 22 men and 18 women, 20-66 yrs old [mean, 48 yrs] and 49 schizophrenic inpatients, 30 men and 19 women, 21-66 yrs old (mean, 49 yrs), without any symptoms of motor disturbances [the control group]) were enrolled in the study. Measurement of PLP is performed by high-performance liquid chromatography separation in all patients.


RESULTS
There was a significant difference in plasma PLP levels between patients with TD and those without TD. The discrepancy between the groups was almost entirely attributable to the PLP levels of male patients: 12.4 +/- 11.4 vs 29.0 +/- 12.9 nM in men (P < 0.001), and 19.7 +/- 14.8 vs 22.0 +/- 13.6 nM in women (P > 0.5).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that schizophrenic and schizoaffective male patients with TD have lower PLP plasma levels than non-TD patients.
Miodownik
Chanoch
C
Division of Psychiatry, Ministry of Health Be'er Sheva Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er-Sheva, Israel.
Meoded
Aviel
A
Libov
Igor
I
Bersudsky
Yuly
Y
Sela
Ben-Ami
BA
Lerner
Vladimir
V
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004409:Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D011732:Pyridoxal Phosphate / Q000097:blood*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications
D011732:Pyridoxal Phosphate