Department of Physiology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa.
National Health Laboratory Service, Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban 4085, South Africa.
Cells. 2021 Oct 26;10(11):2890. doi: 10.3390/cells10112890.
Schizophrenia is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by dissociation of thoughts, idea, identity, and emotions. It has no central pathophysiological mechanism and precise diagnostic markers. Despite its high heritability, there are also environmental factors implicated in the development of schizophrenia. Epigenetic factors are thought to mediate the effects of environmental factors in the development of the disorder. Epigenetic modifications like DNA methylation are a risk factor for schizophrenia. Targeted gene approach studies attempted to find candidate gene methylation, but the results are contradictory. Genome-wide methylation studies are insufficient in literature and the available data do not cover different populations like the African populations. The current genome-wide studies have limitations related to the sample and methods used. Studies are required to control for these limitations. Integration of DNA methylation, gene expression, and their effects are important in the understanding of the development of schizophrenia and search for biomarkers. There are currently no precise and functional biomarkers for the disorder. Several epigenetic markers have been reported to be common in functional and peripheral tissue. This makes the peripheral tissue epigenetic changes a surrogate of functional tissue, suggesting common epigenetic alteration can be used as biomarkers of schizophrenia in peripheral tissue.
精神分裂症是一种神经精神疾病，其特征是思维、观念、身份和情感的分裂。它没有中心病理生理学机制和精确的诊断标志物。尽管它具有很高的遗传性，但也有环境因素涉及到精神分裂症的发展。表观遗传因素被认为可以调节环境因素在疾病发展中的作用。表观遗传修饰，如 DNA 甲基化，是精神分裂症的一个风险因素。靶向基因方法研究试图寻找候选基因甲基化，但结果存在矛盾。全基因组甲基化研究在文献中还不够充分，可用数据也没有涵盖像非洲人群这样的不同人群。目前的全基因组研究存在与所使用的样本和方法相关的局限性。需要进行研究来控制这些局限性。整合 DNA 甲基化、基因表达及其对精神分裂症发展和生物标志物搜索的影响非常重要。目前，该疾病没有精确和功能性的生物标志物。已经报道了几种表观遗传标记在功能和外周组织中是常见的。这使得外周组织的表观遗传变化成为功能组织的替代物，表明共同的表观遗传改变可以在外周组织中用作精神分裂症的生物标志物。
