Cu, Zn- and Mn-superoxide dismutase levels in brains of patients with schizophrenic psychosis.

Impaired oxidative stress defense has been reported in blood of both drug-naïve and antipsychotic-treated patients suffering from schizophrenic psychosis, indicating the involvement of free radical metabolism in the pathogenetic processes of schizophrenia. In this study, the concentrations of two isoenzymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD), Cu, Zn- and MnSOD, were determined with ELISA in various cortical (frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital cortex) and subcortical areas (putamen, caudate nucleus, thalamus, and substantia innominata) of post-mortem brain tissue from patients diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder and compared with those of controls. Post-mortem brain tissue from individuals without neuropsychiatric disorders served for control.