title: Skin ceramide alterations in first-episode schizophrenia indicate abnormal sphingolipid metabolism.
abstract: There is considerable evidence for specific pathology of lipid metabolism in schizophrenia, affecting polyunsaturated fatty acids and in particular sphingolipids. These deficits are assumed to interfere with neuronal membrane functioning and the development and maintenance of myelin sheaths. Recent studies suggest that some of these lipid pathologies might also be detected in peripheral skin tests. In this study, we examined different skin lipids and their relation to schizophrenia. We assessed epidermal lipid profiles in 22 first-episode antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenia patients and 22 healthy controls matched for age and gender using a hexan/ethanol extraction technique and combined high-performance thin-layer chromatography/gas-chromatography. We found highly significant increase of ceramide AH and NH/AS classes in patients and decrease of EOS and NP ceramide classes. This is the first demonstration of specific peripheral sphingolipid alterations in schizophrenia. The results support recent models of systemic lipid pathology and in particular of specific sphingolipids, which are crucial in neuronal membrane integrity. Given recent findings showing amelioration of psychopathology using fatty acid supplementation, our findings also bear relevance for sphingolipids as potential biomarkers of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany. stefan.smesny@med.uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smesny
authors.forename: Christian E H
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Schmelzer
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hinder
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Köhler
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rudzok
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Berko
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Milleit
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Milleit
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nenadic
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sauer
authors.forename: Reinhard H H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Neubert
authors.forename: Joachim W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Fluhr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002518:Ceramides / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004817:Epidermis / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000378:metabolism; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000378:metabolism*; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002518:Ceramides; D013107:Sphingolipids