Summary
Thirteen brain dysfunctional patients with psychosis were compared to 11 brain dysfunctional patients without psychosis by EEG, CT scan and neuropsychological test abnormalities, and abnormalities in serine metabolism. None of the tests of conventional measures of brain pathology and pathophysiology significantly differentiated between the psychotic and nonpsychotic patients; only the last measure which has previously been shown to be a biochemical vulnerability factor for psychosis, was significantly different in the two groups. This study suggests that the brain pathology and pathophysiology per se are not significant factors that make such patients psychotic, but these patients are vulnerable to psychosis because of a biochemical abnormality.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Axelrod J (1982) Phospholipid methylation in signal transduction. Neurosc Res Prog Bull 20:327–338
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantification of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–251
Carlsson A (1978) Does dopamine have a role in schizophrenia? Biol Psychiatry 13:3–21
Daly EC, Aprison MH (1974) Distribution of serine hydroxymethyltransferase and glycine transaminase in areas of the central nervous system of the rat. J Neurochem 22:877–882
Davison K, Bagley CR (1969) Schizophrenia-like psychoses associated with organic disorders of the central nervous system: A review of the literature. Br J Psychiatry 4:113–183
Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR (1975) Mini-mental state: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patient for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 12:189–198
Gibbs FA (1951) Ictal and non-ictal psychiatric disorders in temporal lobe epilepsy. J Nerv Ment Dis 113:525–528
Haracz JL (1982) The dopamine hypothesis: A theory revisited or revised. Schizophrenia Bull 8:438–445
Henderson JF (1972) Regulation of purine synthesis. American Chemical Society Monograph No. 170, Washington, DC
Leviel V, Cherumy A, Niellon H, Glowinski J (1979) Symmetric bilateral changes in dopamine release from the caudate nucleii of the cat induced by unilateral application of glycine and GABA related compounds. Brain Res 175:259–265
Levine DN, Grek D (1984) The anotomic basis of delusions after right cerebral infarction. Neurology 34:577–582
Liston EH (1979) Clinical finding in presentile dementia: A report of 50 cases. J Nerv Ment Dis 165:337–342
McKenna PJ, Kane JM, Parrish K (1985) Psychotic symptoms in epilepsy. Am J Psychiatry 142:895–904
Mudd SH, Poole JR (1975) Labile methyl balances for normal humans on various dietary regimens. Metabolism 24:721–726
Perry TL, Hansen S (1985) Interconversion of serine and glycine is normal in psychotic patients. Psychiatry Res 15:109–114
Price BH, Mesulam M (1985) Psychiatric manifestations of right hemisphere infarction. J Nerv Ment Dis 173:610–614
Robins LN, Helzer JE, Weissman M, Orvaschel E, Gruenberg E, Burke JD, Regier JD (1984) Lifetime prevalence of specific psychatric disorders in three sites. Arch Gen Psychiatry 41:949–958
Sherwin I, Peron-Magnan P, Bancaud J, Boris A, Talairach J (1982) Prevalence of psychosis in epilepsy as a function of the laterality of the epileptogenic focus. Arch Neurol 39:621–625
Snyder SH (1985) Adenosine as a neuromodular. Ann Rev Neurosci 3:103–124
Waziri R, Mott J (1986) Drug effects on serine metabolism in psychiatric patients. Psychiatry Res 18:119–126
Waziri R, Wilson R, Sherman A (1983) Plasma serine to cysteine ratio as a biological marker for psychosis. Br J Psychiatry 143:69–73
Waziri R, Mott J, Wilcox J (1985) Differentiation of psychotic from nonpsychotic depression by a biological marker. J Affect Disord 9:175–180
Waziri R, Wilcox J, Sherman A, Mott J (1984) Serine metabolism and psychosis. Psychiatry Res 12:121–136
Wilcox J, Waziri R, Sherman A, Mott J (1985) Metabolism of an ingested serine load in psychotic and nonpsychotic subjects. Biol Psychiatry 20:41–49
Zumwalt RW, Kiro K, Gehirke CW (1971) A nongram and picogram method for amino acid analysis by gas chromatography. J Chromatogr 57:1983–1988
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Waziri, R., Mott, J. A biochemical basis for psychotic symptoms in patients with brain dysfunction. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 236, 251–255 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383858
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383858