Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Glutamate Levels Elevated in Teens At-Risk for Schizophrenia

A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry highlights glutamate as a possible key factor in schizophrenia.

Published results showed that teens judged to be at a high genetic risk for developing schizophrenia had abnormally elevated levels of glutamate in their brains, as compared with teens who had no risk.

The finding supports a previously suggested hypothesis that "glutamate system dysfunction may play a role in neuroarchitectural abnormalities seen in schizophrenia...," says Philip Tibbo, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada and the primary investigator in the study.

Although the research provides intriguing insight into the possible brain pathology of the disease, the findings have no practical clinical application at the moment. In other words, psychiatrists don't usually have H-MRS scanners laying around the office so they can easily test brain glutamate levels.

For more information, see the full-text news article or the published study.