Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0036341 (schizophrenia)
 60,220 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Altered immune function is an established finding in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychosis, though its role in their development and progression remains to be understood. Evidence suggests altered JAK-STAT1 pathway activity in peripheral blood cells from participants with schizophrenia compared to controls. Activation of this pathway leads to increased expression of complement component 4A (C4A), which has recently been implicated in schizophrenia. Here, we examine mRNA expression of C4A in peripheral blood cells from participants with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and controls. STAT1 and IRF-1 mRNA expression are included as measures of JAK-STAT1 pathway activation in the same participants. Further, we examine the association of each genes mRNA expression with clinical symptom measures using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale (PSYRATS). We demonstrate that C4A, STAT1 and IRF-1 mRNA expression levels are correlated across the entire sample, indicating shared transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. Further, we show that C4A mRNA expression alone is positively associated with psychotic symptomatology, specifically the presence and severity of delusions. These findings are noteworthy given recent findings that demonstrate a critical role for complement proteins in synaptic pruning, alterations of which are proposed to contribute to psychopathology in psychosis.
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PMID:C4A mRNA expression in PBMCs predicts the presence and severity of delusions in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychosis. 2944 61

Abnormalities in the complement system have been described in patients with schizophrenia, with those individuals having greater frequency of complement component 4A (C4A) alleles and higher C4A transcript levels in postmortem brain tissue. Importantly, abnormalities in C4A and other complement molecules have been associated with synaptic pruning abnormalities that occur during neurodevelopment. A few studies have investigated C4 levels in living patients with schizophrenia, but all of them did so using peripheral blood samples. No studies have examined C4 levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), presumably a better biofluid choice given its intimate contact with the brain. Therefore, we report for the first time on C4 levels in CSF and plasma of patients with schizophrenia. In this study, we obtained CSF in 32 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 32 healthy volunteers and peripheral blood samples in 33 SSD and 31 healthy volunteers. C4 levels were measured using Abcam ELISA assays. Univariate analysis did not show a statistically significant difference in CSF C4 values between groups. However, a multivariable analysis showed a statistically significant increase in CSF C4 levels between groups after adjusting for sex and age. We also observed a high correlation between CSF C4 levels and age. By contrast, plasma C4 levels were not significantly different between groups. CSF and plasma C4 levels were not significantly correlated. Therefore, the use of CSF samples is critical and should be complementary to the use of peripheral blood samples to allow for a comprehensive understanding of complement C4 abnormalities in schizophrenia.
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PMID:Complement component C4 levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma of patients with schizophrenia. 3296 44