Increased blood-reelin-levels in first episode schizophrenia

Abstract

Background Reelin is an extracellular glycoprotein involved in several functions of brain development, synaptogenesis and dendritic proliferation. Numerous studies found perturbation in the reelin system and altered serum reelin levels in neuropsychiatric patients using the western blot procedure. In the international literature, this is the first study that made use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to analyze serum reelin protein concentration quantitatively. Rationale In order to study possible alterations in reelin blood levels in schizophrenia, we analyzed this signal in schizophrenic patients with a first episode hallucinatory and paranoid syndrome and control subjects in a pilot study design. Results We found increased blood reelin protein concentration in schizophrenic patients compared to healthy controls. Discussion Our findings point to a relevant role of reelin metabolism in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Reelin could be a biomarker for the course of disease or psychopharmacological treatment. Conclusion We conclude that the reelin protein blood concentration might be a relevant signal with respect to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.