In preliminary studies in our lab, we used a technique called ³¹P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to characterize the phospholipids in the frontal cortex of postmortem brains from a small number of schizophrenics and controls.  NMR is a spectroscopic technique often used by chemists to study complex mixtures of compounds without separating the individual components.  ³¹P NMR detects only compounds, such as phospholipids, containing the element phosphorus.  ³¹P NMR spectra for a schizophrenic patient (top) and a normal control subject (bottom) are shown in Figure 2. 

Figure 2.  ³¹P NMR spectra of brain phospholipids for a schizophrenic patient (top)
and a normal subject (bottom).  Peak designations are given in reference 2.

In our preliminary work, the composition did not differ between schizophrenics and controls for most phospholipids.  There was evidence for elevated phosphatidylinositol in schizophrenia.  In addition, the distribution of fatty acid side chains (R₁ and R₂ in Figure 1) of phosphatidylcholine was different between the two groups.  In a full, follow-up study, we will measure both the phospholipid composition and the composition of metabolic precursors and degradation products in the left frontal cortex and left temporal cortex of 20 schizophrenics, 20 normal controls, and 10 psychiatric controls.  This study will allow us to link the precursor and degradation product changes seen in schizophrenia in vivo by MRI-based spectroscopic methods with changes in actual phospholipid composition.

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