Schizophrenia's secrets begin to unravel

[Olm the Water King]

Schizophrenia's secrets begin to unravel - LA Times

Schizophrenia's secrets begin to unravel

By Melissa Healy

Schizophrenia is one of psychiatry's most puzzling afflictions, with a complex of symptoms that goes far beyond its hallmark hallucinations and delusional thinking. But new research has found connections among several of schizophrenia's peculiar collection of symptoms -- including agitation and memory problems -- and linked them to a single genetic variant among the hundreds thought to heighten risk of the disorder.

The findings offer new insights into the molecular basis for schizophrenia and could lead to treatments for the disease that are more targeted and more comprehensive.

Published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the study looks at how a gene variant called Arp2/3 contributes to psychosis, agitation and problems of short- and long-term memory. Mice that were genetically modified to lack the Arp2/3 gene variant showed all three symptoms (although to measure psychosis in mice, scientists looked instead for an abnormal startle response that is also seen in humans in the grips of psychosis).

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[Tellenbach]

I think they'd have more success looking at the biochemical pathways that might be faulty. Back in the 1960s, a doctor found that the urine of schizophrenics contained far greater concentrations of peroxides; that would indicate a biochemical error of some sort. Another doctor found that schizophrenics did not undergo the infamous niacin flush; that also points to a biochemical error.