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Introduction: Abnormalities in membrane phospholipids are considered one of the pathophysiological backgrounds for schizophrenia. This study, explores the fatty acid composition of erythrocyte membranes and its association with clinical characteristics in two groups: individuals with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) and patients experiencing their first-episode of schizophrenia (FES). Materials and methods: This study measured erythrocyte membrane fatty acids in 72 antipsychotic-free individuals with ARMS, 18 antipsychotic-free patients with FES, and 39 healthy volunteers. Clinical symptoms and cognitive and social functions were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS), and Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS). Results: Eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acid levels were lower in the ARMS and FES groups than in the healthy control group. In contrast, nervonic acid (NA) levels were markedly higher in the ARMS and FES groups than in the controls, while only the FES group showed higher levels of arachidonic acid. Oleic acid and NA levels were significantly associated with PANSS scores in both the FES and ARMS groups, particularly for the negative and general subscores. However, the patient groups had no significant associations between the fatty acid composition and the BACS, SCoRS, and SOFAS scores. Furthermore, the baseline fatty acid composition did not differ between the ARMS individuals who later developed psychosis (N = 6) and those who were followed for more than 2 years without developing psychosis onset (N = 30). Discussion: The findings suggest that abnormal fatty acid compositions may be shared in the early stages of schizophrenia and the clinical high-risk state for psychosis and may serve as vulnerability markers of psychopathology.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: ADH1B, ADH1C and ALDH2 genes are mainly responsible for alcohol metabolism in the body. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of these genes have been reported to be associated with alcohol dependence and are considered risk factors for various human diseases. This study aims to identify the prevalence of three SNPs of ADH1B (rs1229984), ADH1C (rs698) and ALDH2 (rs671) in 235 unrelated individuals living in Thai Nguyen province, the northeast region of Vietnam. METHODS: The target genotypes were identified by using PCR direct sequencing, and their frequencies were compared to previous reports. RESULT: Our data showed that allele frequencies of ADH1B*2, ADH1C*2 and ALDH2*2 were 68.8%, 8.3% and 20.4%, respectively. The ADH1B*2 and ADH1C*2 frequencies were similar to those of the Kinh ethnic individuals living in the south region of Vietnam, while the ALDH2*2 frequency was higher. Compared to data from other countries, ADH1B*2 frequency is similar to the Philippines (60.5%) and Mongolia (62.9%) but significantly different from the other populations. The ADH1C*2 frequency is not so different compared to Japanese (5.7%) and Chinese (7.1%) but is quite different in other populations. ALDH2*2 frequency was lower than Japanese (29.3%), Indonesian (30%) and higher than other countries. Regarding the risk of alcoholism, the percentage of Vietnamese people in this study with genotypes related to alcohol dependence is 8.1%. In contrast, the carrier has genotypes protecting against alcoholism with high frequency, 91.9%. Among them, the individuals can cause high acetaldehyde accumulation accounting for 33.2%. CONCLUSION: This study helps to understand the genetic polymorphisms of alcohol metabolism genes in the community living in Thai Nguyen province, northeast of Vietnam, and provides valuable scientific data relating to alcohol consumption behavior as well as public health protection.
