Elevated plasma level of apolipoprotein D in schizophrenia and its treatment and outcome.

Recently, apolipoprotein D (apoD), a protein that is involved in the essential polyunsaturated fatty acid (EPUFA) transport and metabolism, and neuronal growth and regeneration was reported to have increased in the postmortem brain and decreased in the serum of schizophrenia patients. We studied the plasma apoD levels in never-medicated schizophrenic patients at the onset of psychosis and in chronic patients with clozapine treatment. Plasma apoD levels were elevated in never-medicated patients at the first-episode of psychosis compared to normals (P = 0.

Reduced erythrocyte membrane essential fatty acids and increased lipid peroxides in schizophrenia at the never-medicated first-episode of psychosis and after years of treatment with antipsychotics.

Abnormal membrane phospholipid essential polyunsaturated fatty acid (EPUFA) metabolism (i.e., reduced incorporation into phospholipids and increased breakdown) has been suggested to contribute to the etiopathophysiology of schizophrenia.