Schizophrenia — Recent Research

A former fellow with the American College of Psychiatrists and member of theAmerican Psychiatric Association (APA), Wayne Macfadden, MD, has worked as a Clinical Psychiatrist and researcher with several pharmaceutical companies over the past three decades. As the co-founder of International Psychiatric Services, Wayne Macfadden, MD, diagnoses and treats mental illnesses such as substance abuse disorders and schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric illness marked by a series of clinical syndromes that affect thoughts, emotions, cognition, and behaviors. Schizophrenia generally strikes during the adolescent years, causing substantial delays in growth and development, as well as a lifetime of impairment.

Most schizophrenic patients who develop the disease at a younger age (before reaching 20 years old) exhibit more severe symptoms than those who develop the disease at a later age. The frontal and temporal lobes, as well as other brain areas in patients with early-onset schizophrenia, have shown retarded development.

In terms of human neurodevelopment, folate is an important biochemical that can help avoid developmental abnormalities, including neural tube defects. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a crucial enzyme that controls folate conversion and metabolism, allowing folate to be biotransformed intracellularly. MTHFR enzyme activity has been found to be hampered by gene polymorphisms at particular locations.

Based on the results of studies on animal models and the clinical characteristics of schizophrenia research, a high MTHFR polymorphism is linked to an increased risk of schizophrenia and earlier onset age. Some studies, however, have found that the MTHFR polymorphism has no effect on schizophrenia risk or onset age. Although the results of studies linking MTHFR to schizophrenia are inconsistent, gene polymorphisms may have a role in the symptoms of schizophrenia at different ages of onset. Further research will address this area.