Essential and other fatty acids in plasma in schizophrenics and normal individuals from Japan

• Published in: Biological psychiatry (1969) Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 357 - 362
• Main Authors: Kaiya, H., Horrobin, D.F., Manku, M.S., Morse Fisher, N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 15.08.1991; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Cholesterol Esters - blood; Fatty Acids, Essential - blood; Female; Humans; Japan; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mood Disorders - blood; Phospholipids - blood; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychoses; Reference Values; Schizophrenia - blood; Asia; Japan; Human; Psychosis; Plasma; Schizophrenia; Lipids; Metabolism; Fatty acids; Essential
• ISSN: 0006-3223; 1873-2402
• DOI: 10.1016/0006-3223(91)90291-S

Plasma phospholipid and cholesterol ester fatty acid levels were measured in samples from normal individuals, schizophrenics, and patients with affective and paranoid disorders in Japan. The schizophrenics were divided into groups with normal and reduced platelet sensitivity to the aggregation-inhibiting effects of prostaglandin (PG) E 1. As in samples from schizophrenics in several other countries, linoleic acid levels were significantly below normal, as was the ratio of linoleic acid to its metabolites. Phospholipid fatty acid levels were normal in patients with paranoid or affective disorders. When the schizophrenics were divided into those with and without an abnormal response to PGE 1, oleic acid was higher and eicosapentaenoic acid lower in those patients with an abnormal response. This study lends further support to the idea that schizophrenics may differ from controls in their essential fatty acid and eicosanoid metabolism.