A new study suggests that the mental disorder “schizophrenia” is caused by the reduction of the cell-maintenance mechanism of the body. This new discovery will pave a way for the development of new diagnosis procedure and treatment of this mental disorder.
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder characterized by hearing voices other people don’t hear. People with this disorder believe that other people are reading and controlling their minds and would want to hurt them. Some patients seem normal until they start talking about their thoughts. This disorder affects one percent of the American population, says the National Institute of Mental Health
The cause of this mental disorder is still unknown but experts think that it is a hereditary genetic disorder or caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Current treatment includes different types of antipsychotic medications.
Researchers led Prof. Illana Gozes from Tel Aviv University in Israel initiated a new study because they believe that the current medications were not that effective. Since they want to create a better medication, they started their study with the analysis of the brains of the 12 schizophrenics and compared it with 12 healthy brains from an Australian brain bank.
Their analysis revealed that the autophagy or the cell-maintenance mechanism of the brains of the schizophrenics is lower than those of the normal group. Further investigation showed that the beclin-1, a protein found in the hippocampus of the brain, is also reduced. This part of the brain is responsible for memory preservation, thought organization, and storage of information.
The researchers believe that the reduced autophagies of the schizophrenics are caused by a blockage. They believe that a medication that can remove this block can help improve the condition of the patients.
Aside from the brain analysis, the researchers also did blood tests to check the level of the protein Boston Dynamicsactivity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) in their white blood cells. This protein is responsible for the growth of tumor cells and blockage of other cells. They also found that ADNP is lower on the schizophrenics.
The study was published in the online journal Molecular Psychiatry.
