BLOOD TEST MAY HELP DETERMINE WHO IS AT RISK FOR PSYCHOSIS
A study led by
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers represents an important
step forward in the accurate diagnosis of people who are experiencing the
earliest stages of psychosis.
Psychosis includes
hallucinations or delusions that define the development of severe mental
disorders such as schizophrenia. Schizophrenia emerges in late adolescence and
early adulthood and affects about 1 in every 100 people. In severe cases, the
impact on a young person can be a life compromised, and the burden on family
members can be almost as severe.
The study published in
the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin reports preliminary results
showing that a blood test, when used in psychiatric patients experiencing
symptoms that are considered to be indicators of a high risk for psychosis,
identifies those who later went on to develop psychosis.
"The blood test
included a selection of 15 measures of immune and hormonal system imbalances as
well as evidence of oxidative stress," said Diana O. Perkins, MD, MPH,
professor of psychiatry in the UNC School of Medicine and corresponding author
of the study. She is also medical director of UNC's Outreach and Support
Intervention Services (OASIS) program for schizophrenia.
"While further
research is required before this blood test could be clinically available,
these results provide evidence regarding the fundamental nature of schizophrenia,
and point towards novel pathways that could be targets for preventative
interventions," Perkins said.
Clark D. Jeffries,
PhD, bioinformatics scientist at the UNC-based Renaissance Computing Institute
(RENCI), is a co-author of the study, which was conducted as part of the North
American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS), an international effort to
understand risk factors and mechanisms for development of psychotic disorders.
"Modern,
computer-based methods can readily discover seemingly clear patterns from
nonsensical data," said Jeffries. "Added to that, scientific results
from studies of complex disorders like schizophrenia can be confounded by many
hidden dependencies. Thus, stringent testing is necessary to build a useful classifier.
We did that."
The study concludes
that the multiplex blood assay, if independently replicated and if integrated
with studies of other classes of biomarkers, has the potential to be of high
value in the clinical setting.
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