Nitric oxide, asymmetric dimethylarginine, symmetric dimethylarginine and L-arginine levels in psychotic exacerbation of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder manic episode.

Objectives: To examine the changes in nitric oxide (NO), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), and L-arginine levels in schizophrenia during acute psychotic exacerbation and in bipolar disorder during mania and to compare those changes to healthy controls.

Methods: Thirty schizophrenia patients with acute psychotic exacerbation and 30 bipolar disorder patients with mania, who attended the Psychiatry Department,  Erenköy Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2010. Thirty healthy controls were included. The diagnosis was made using the Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) interviews. Patients' demographic data were recorded, and NO, SDMA, L-arginine, and ADMA levels were studied.

Results: Nitric oxide levels in schizophrenia patients were significantly lower than the control group. Nitric oxide levels in the bipolar group were lower than the control group but the difference was not statistically significant. The levels of SDMA, ADMA, and L-arginine were found to be significantly higher in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients than the control group. The disease duration was slightly negatively correlated with NO levels in bipolar patients. In schizophrenia patients, the disease severity was slightly positively correlated with NO levels.

Conclusion: Significant changes in NO, SDMA, ADMA, and L-arginine levels in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients suggest that NO and inhibitors of NO might be implicated in the neurobiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.