Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis.

<h4>Background</h4>Psychosis is a severe mental condition that is characterized by a loss of contact with reality and is typically associated with hallucinations and delusional beliefs. There are numerous psychiatric conditions that present with psychotic symptoms, most importantly schiz...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jeffrey T-J Huang, F Markus Leweke, David Oxley, Lan Wang, Nathan Harris, Dagmar Koethe, Christoph W Gerth, Brit M Nolden, Sonja Gross, Daniela Schreiber, Benjamin Reed, Sabine Bahn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2006-11-01
Series:PLoS Medicine
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030428
_version_ 1818406010591641600
author Jeffrey T-J Huang
F Markus Leweke
David Oxley
Lan Wang
Nathan Harris
Dagmar Koethe
Christoph W Gerth
Brit M Nolden
Sonja Gross
Daniela Schreiber
Benjamin Reed
Sabine Bahn
author_facet Jeffrey T-J Huang
F Markus Leweke
David Oxley
Lan Wang
Nathan Harris
Dagmar Koethe
Christoph W Gerth
Brit M Nolden
Sonja Gross
Daniela Schreiber
Benjamin Reed
Sabine Bahn
author_sort Jeffrey T-J Huang
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Psychosis is a severe mental condition that is characterized by a loss of contact with reality and is typically associated with hallucinations and delusional beliefs. There are numerous psychiatric conditions that present with psychotic symptoms, most importantly schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and some forms of severe depression referred to as psychotic depression. The pathological mechanisms resulting in psychotic symptoms are not understood, nor is it understood whether the various psychotic illnesses are the result of similar biochemical disturbances. The identification of biological markers (so-called biomarkers) of psychosis is a fundamental step towards a better understanding of the pathogenesis of psychosis and holds the potential for more objective testing methods.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>Surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry was employed to profile proteins and peptides in a total of 179 cerebrospinal fluid samples (58 schizophrenia patients, 16 patients with depression, five patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, ten patients with Alzheimer disease, and 90 controls). Our results show a highly significant differential distribution of samples from healthy volunteers away from drug-naïve patients with first-onset paranoid schizophrenia. The key alterations were the up-regulation of a 40-amino acid VGF-derived peptide, the down-regulation of transthyretin at approximately 4 kDa, and a peptide cluster at approximately 6,800-7,300 Da (which is likely to be influenced by the doubly charged ions of the transthyretin protein cluster). These schizophrenia-specific protein/peptide changes were replicated in an independent sample set. Both experiments achieved a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 80% or 88% in the initial study and in a subsequent validation study, respectively.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results suggest that the application of modern proteomics techniques, particularly mass spectrometric approaches, holds the potential to advance the understanding of the biochemical basis of psychiatric disorders and may in turn allow for the development of diagnostics and improved therapeutics. Further studies are required to validate the clinical effectiveness and disease specificity of the identified biomarkers.
first_indexed 2024-12-14T09:05:09Z
format Article
id doaj.art-cbb3d32f01ad40678c474e3ae05914bb
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1549-1277
1549-1676
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-14T09:05:09Z
publishDate 2006-11-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS Medicine
spelling doaj.art-cbb3d32f01ad40678c474e3ae05914bb2022-12-21T23:08:43ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Medicine1549-12771549-16762006-11-01311e42810.1371/journal.pmed.0030428Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis.Jeffrey T-J HuangF Markus LewekeDavid OxleyLan WangNathan HarrisDagmar KoetheChristoph W GerthBrit M NoldenSonja GrossDaniela SchreiberBenjamin ReedSabine Bahn<h4>Background</h4>Psychosis is a severe mental condition that is characterized by a loss of contact with reality and is typically associated with hallucinations and delusional beliefs. There are numerous psychiatric conditions that present with psychotic symptoms, most importantly schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and some forms of severe depression referred to as psychotic depression. The pathological mechanisms resulting in psychotic symptoms are not understood, nor is it understood whether the various psychotic illnesses are the result of similar biochemical disturbances. The identification of biological markers (so-called biomarkers) of psychosis is a fundamental step towards a better understanding of the pathogenesis of psychosis and holds the potential for more objective testing methods.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>Surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry was employed to profile proteins and peptides in a total of 179 cerebrospinal fluid samples (58 schizophrenia patients, 16 patients with depression, five patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, ten patients with Alzheimer disease, and 90 controls). Our results show a highly significant differential distribution of samples from healthy volunteers away from drug-naïve patients with first-onset paranoid schizophrenia. The key alterations were the up-regulation of a 40-amino acid VGF-derived peptide, the down-regulation of transthyretin at approximately 4 kDa, and a peptide cluster at approximately 6,800-7,300 Da (which is likely to be influenced by the doubly charged ions of the transthyretin protein cluster). These schizophrenia-specific protein/peptide changes were replicated in an independent sample set. Both experiments achieved a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 80% or 88% in the initial study and in a subsequent validation study, respectively.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results suggest that the application of modern proteomics techniques, particularly mass spectrometric approaches, holds the potential to advance the understanding of the biochemical basis of psychiatric disorders and may in turn allow for the development of diagnostics and improved therapeutics. Further studies are required to validate the clinical effectiveness and disease specificity of the identified biomarkers.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030428
spellingShingle Jeffrey T-J Huang
F Markus Leweke
David Oxley
Lan Wang
Nathan Harris
Dagmar Koethe
Christoph W Gerth
Brit M Nolden
Sonja Gross
Daniela Schreiber
Benjamin Reed
Sabine Bahn
Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis.
PLoS Medicine
title Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis.
title_full Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis.
title_fullStr Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis.
title_full_unstemmed Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis.
title_short Disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first-onset psychosis.
title_sort disease biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with first onset psychosis
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030428
work_keys_str_mv AT jeffreytjhuang diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT fmarkusleweke diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT davidoxley diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT lanwang diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT nathanharris diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT dagmarkoethe diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT christophwgerth diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT britmnolden diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT sonjagross diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT danielaschreiber diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT benjaminreed diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis
AT sabinebahn diseasebiomarkersincerebrospinalfluidofpatientswithfirstonsetpsychosis