| 1 | J Psychiatr Res 2016 72年1月:58 - 63 |
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| PMID | 26540405 |
| Title | Decreased mRNA expression for the two subunits of system xc(-), SLC3A2 and SLC7A11, in WBC in patients with schizophrenia: Evidence in support of the hypo-glutamatergic hypothesis of schizophrenia. |
| Abstract | The cystine/glutamate antiporter system xc(-), playing a critical role in the regulation of glutamate release, might be implicated in the pathogenesis ofschizophrenia. This study examined whether peripheral expressions of the system xc(-) subunits are characteristic ofschizophrenia. Expression of system xc(-) genes includingSLC3A2and SLC7A11 in peripheral WBCs of patients withschizophreniaand healthy individuals were measured using quantitative PCR. Both psychotropic-free and medicated patients withschizophreniawere recruited. A total of 96schizophreniapatients (48 medicated and 48 drug-free) and 96 healthy individuals were enrolled. The mRNA expression levels using the 2(-??C)T Method of bothSLC3A2and SLC7A11 in WBCs ofschizophreniapatients were markedly lower than that of healthy individuals (0.22 and 0.48, respectively, the mRNA expression level of normal controls was normalized to 1). There was no significant difference between medicated and drug-free patients in the mRNA expressions of bothSLC3A2and SLC7A11. The Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis ofSLC3A2mRNA levels using ??CT values for drug-freeschizophreniapatients vs. healthy controls determined an optimal cutoff value, 0.801, with high sensitivity (1.000) and modest specificity (0.694) (area under curve of ROC = 0.794). This is the first study indicating that the peripheral mRNA expression levels of SLC7A11 andSLC3A2may be lower in patients withschizophreniathan healthy individuals. The finding supports the hypo-glutamatergic neurotransmission hypothesis inschizophrenia. Whether mRNA expression of system xc(-) subunits genes, particularlySLC3A2, could serve as a potential biomarker ofschizophrenianeeds further studies. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia |