Background
There is conflicting evidence of whether polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in red
blood cells are bimodally distributed in schizophrenia. The purpose of this study
was to examine the distribution of PUFA, as well as its links to plausible causal
factors.
Methods
A 16-week cohort study and a case-control study as part of a randomized controlled
trial. Ninety-nine patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or
schizophreniform disorder, aged 18 to 39, were consecutively included at admission
to psychiatric departments of nine Norwegian hospitals. Fatty acids were measured
in 97 of these patients and in 20 healthy control subjects. The primary outcome measure
was the bimodality test statistic T, assessed by a χ2 test of the likelihood of one or two normal distributions of PUFA.
Results
At baseline, levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids were highly significantly bimodally
distributed among patients. One third of patients constituted a group (low PUFA) who
had PUFA levels at one fifth (p < .001) of those in high PUFA patients and healthy control subjects, which did not
differ. Bimodality was mainly accounted for by docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic
acid. Bimodality was confirmed after 16 weeks. α-tocopherol was a robust predictor
of PUFA at both occasions. Desaturase and elongase indexes differed between PUFA groups.
Smoking, gender, antipsychotic medication, and dietary factors did not explain the
bimodal distribution.
Conclusions
Red blood cell PUFA were bimodally distributed among acutely ill patients with schizophrenia
and schizoaffective disorder. Endogenous deficiencies of redox regulation or synthesis
of long-chain PUFA in the low PUFA group may explain our findings.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 06, 2011
Accepted:
February 1,
2011
Received in revised form:
January 31,
2011
Received:
August 18,
2010
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
