Selection of Articles from Medline (11/20/01)

Altered levels of the synaptosomal associated protein SNAP-25 in hippocampus of subjects with mood disorders and schizophrenia.
By Fatemi SH, Earle JA, Stary JM, Lee S, & Sedgewick J. , in Neuroreport. 12(15):3257-3262, 2001.
Summary: The levels of the synaptosomal associated protein SNAP-25 were measured in the hippocampus of patients diagnosed with unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, and compared with the levels found in the control patients in the study. The results showed that the levels of SNAP-25 were reduced in some of the hippocampal areas and increased in others. In addition, there were differences between the three diseases.

Altered levels of Reelin and its isoforms in schizophrenia and mood disorders.
By Fatemi SH, Kroll JL & Stary JM, in Neuroreport. 12(15):3209-3215., 2001.
Summary: Reelin is a secreted extracellular matrix protein that has been found to be reduced in brains of patients with schizophrenia, autism, bipolar disorder and major depression. Not only is reelin involved in normal cortical lamination of the brain during mammalian embryogenesis, but it is also implicated in cell signaling systems subserving cognition in adult brain. Here, the authors show that blood levels of reelin and its isoforms are altered in three psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression.

Reaction time measures of sustained attention differentiate bipolar disorder from schizophrenia.
By Fleck DE, Sax KW & Strakowski SM, in Schizophr Res. 52(3):251-259, 2001.
Summary: Continuous performance tasks (CPTs) have become more and more common in psychiatric research, and may be used to differentiate psychiatric patient groups. In this study this approach was used to study patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The findings suggest that reaction time measures may be sensitive to differences in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Nitrite content and antioxidant enzyme levels in the blood of schizophrenia patients.
By Srivastava N, Barthwal MK, Dalal PK, Agarwal AK, Nag D, Srimal RC, Seth PK & Dikshit M, in Psychopharmacology. 158(2):140-145, 2001.
Summary: Recent studies have suggested augmentation in the inflammatory response as well as involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in mood disorders. The present study was undertaken to investigate levels of several metabolites and enzymes in schizophrenics' polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), where NO and free radicals have been associated with inflammatory response. The results suggest that the decrease in the NO synthesis in the PMN that was observed in the study might lead to oxidative stress in schizophrenia patients.