homocysteine and "schizophrenia"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16143442

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_283/ai_n18744429/

http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v11/n2/abs/4001746a.html

homocysteine pathways regarding

homocysteine hallucinogenic in effect---a toxic break down product which cannot be broken down without adequate b viatamins

and which has hallucinatory effects
http://www.bio.net/mm/toxicol/2004-November/003513.html

an old term

bloom agrees when i ask it that
schizophrenia will be outmoded as a term
and there will be a more adequate series of terms specific to the process

b vitamin therapies

that will eventually be broken down into othe

stress model

propensity as well as stress factors


abstract from:
http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v11/n2/abs/4001746a.html

Elevated plasma homocysteine concentration has been suggested as a risk factor for schizophrenia, but the results of epidemiological studies have been inconsistent. The most extensively studied genetic variant in the homocysteine metabolism is the 677C>T polymorphism in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, resulting in reduced enzyme activity and, subsequently, in elevated homocysteine. A meta-analysis of eight retrospective studies (812 cases and 2113 control subjects) was carried out to examine the association between homocysteine and schizophrenia. In addition, a meta-analysis of 10 studies (2265 cases and 2721 control subjects) on the homozygous (TT) genotype of the MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism was carried out to assess if this association is causal. A 5 mol/l higher homocysteine level was associated with a 70% (95% confidence interval, CI: 27–129) higher risk of schizophrenia. The TT genotype was associated with a 36% (95% CI: 7–72) higher risk of schizophrenia compared to the CC genotype. The performed meta-analyses showed no evidence of publication bias or excessive influence attributable to any given study. In conclusion, our study provides evidence for an association of homocysteine with schizophrenia. The elevated risk of schizophrenia associated with the homozygous genotype of the MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism provides support for causality between a disturbed homocysteine metabolism and risk of schizophrenia.

more

science direct

Abstract

Homocysteine is a sulfur containing amino acid that has been widely investigated for its putative role in cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric disorders. It has been suggested that homocysteine has implications especially in young, male schizophreniapatients. In this prospective case-control study, we compared plasma homocysteine levels in a group of adolescent schizophreniainpatients (aged 14–21 years; n = 23) to normal healthy controls (n = 51). Mean plasma homocysteine levels were significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (15.40 ± 2.00 and 9.78 ± 0.33 μmol/L, respectively, p < 0.032). The difference was almost entirely attributable to the male schizophrenia subgroup (18.18 ± 5.65 in male patients vs. 10.31 ± 5.33 μmol/L in female patients). The group × sex interaction was statistically significant (p = 0.0035). These data indicate that a subgroup of male adolescent schizophrenia patients has high homocysteine blood levels. The role of homocysteine in the pathophysiology of adolescent-onset schizophrenia merits further investigation.