Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, 2-2-1 Miyama, Funabashi-shi, Chiba 274-8510, Japan.
Saiseikai Yokohamashi Tobu Hospital, 3-6-1 Shimosueyoshi, Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0012, Japan.
Clin Biochem. 2020 Mar;77:48-53. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2019.12.003. Epub 2019 Dec 13.
Disturbance of the methionine (Met) cycle, which produces Met from homocysteine (Hcy), is suggested to be involved in several diseases, including psychiatric disorders. This study was aimed to investigate both levels of Met and Hcy in serum from individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and individuals with at-risk mental state (ARMS).
We measured serum Met and Hcy levels in individuals with FEP (n = 13) and ARMS (n = 30) using HPLC with fluorescence detection and LC-ESI-MS/MS. Met and Hcy levels in healthy controls (n = 41) were also measured. Differences between the 3 groups were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni correction.
Serum Met levels were decreased (p = 0.038) and Hcy levels were increased (p = 0.017) in the FEP group. Hcy levels were also significantly increased compared to the ARMS group (p = 0.016), while Met levels were not significantly different between the FEP and ARMS groups. A significant decrease in the Met to Hcy ratio (Met/Hcy) was observed in the FEP group compared to both the control (p = 4.58 × 10) and ARMS (p = 8.07 × 10) groups. Furthermore, Met/Hcy ratio was correlated with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, especially positive scores (p = 5.90 × 10).
Taken together, these data indicate that a decrease in the serum Met/Hcy ratio may be a risk factor for developing psychosis during the transition from ARMS to FEP, and may prove to be a useful marker of the phase between ARMS and FEP.
蛋氨酸（Met）循环的紊乱会将同型半胱氨酸（Hcy）转化为 Met，这与包括精神疾病在内的多种疾病有关。本研究旨在调查首发精神病（FEP）和有患病风险的精神状态（ARMS）个体血清中 Met 和 Hcy 的水平。
我们使用 HPLC 荧光检测和 LC-ESI-MS/MS 测定了 13 例 FEP 患者和 30 例 ARMS 患者（n=30）以及 41 例健康对照者（n=41）血清 Met 和 Hcy 水平。采用单因素方差分析（ANOVA）和 Bonferroni 校正分析三组间的差异。
FEP 组血清 Met 水平降低（p=0.038），Hcy 水平升高（p=0.017）。与 ARMS 组相比，Hcy 水平也显著升高（p=0.016），而 FEP 和 ARMS 组之间 Met 水平无显著差异。与对照组（p=4.58×10）和 ARMS 组（p=8.07×10）相比，FEP 组 Met/Hcy 比值显著降低。此外，Met/Hcy 比值与阳性和阴性症状量表（PANSS），特别是阳性评分（p=5.90×10）显著相关。
综上所述，这些数据表明，血清 Met/Hcy 比值降低可能是 ARMS 向 FEP 发展过程中出现精神病的危险因素，可能成为 ARMS 和 FEP 之间阶段的有用标志物。
