Differential age- and disease-related effects on the expression of genes related to the arachidonic acid signaling pathway in schizophrenia Psychiatry Research, 06/14/2012

Tang B et al. – The findings contribute to the accumulating evidence suggesting that inflammatory processes in the CNS contribute to pathophysiology of schizophrenia and further suggest that age may be an important factor in the potential use of anti–inflammatory therapies.

• Using real–time qPCR analysis, the authors validated age and disease effects of arachidonic acid–related genes in a large cohort of subjects with schizophrenia and matched controls (n=76 subjects in total).

• The authors found that levels of prostaglandin–endoperoxide synthase 1 (PTGS1; aka COX–1) and prostaglandin–endoperoxide receptor 3 (PTGER3) mRNA are increased, and levels of prostaglandin–endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2; aka COX–2) mRNA are decreased, in older subjects with schizophrenia (>40years of age) compared to matched normal controls or younger subjects with schizophrenia (<40years of age).