title: Biochemical markers of impending psychosis.
abstract: Recent years have witnessed numerous attempts at identifying the biological correlates of impending psychosis. Biochemical markers may theoretically provide a powerful approach to identify at-risk individuals, potentially leading to more effective intervention strategies to treat them. Hopefully, future developments in the field of research biochemistry in patients with at risk mental states or prodromal symptoms will make this approach ideal for screening and monitoring purposes. In this review, we provide an overview of the different biochemical markers which have been recently demonstrated to be altered in the biological fluids of patients with impending psychosis. We will also examine the practical issues that seem to be limiting the effective integration of biomarkers into clinical development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. enzo.em@libero.it
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emanuele
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Abbiati
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fusar-Poli
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Politi
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors