The abnormal plasma iPLA2 concentration and its relationship with the niacin skin test in schizophrenic patients has contributed to a deeper understanding of the pathology of schizophrenia, which may in turn provide new insights into the clinical diagnoses and treatment of schizophrenia.
We support the notion that bluntness in niacin skin test might reflect abnormalities in membrane fatty acid composition, which could be induced by increased PLA2 enzyme activity, in vivo oxidative stress or lipid metabolism imbalance in SZ.
We hypothesized that attenuated niacin skin flushing in schizophrenia patients might be associated with polymorphic variants in PLA2G6 and PLA2G4C genes (rs4375 and rs1549637 variations) which encode calcium-independent phospholipase A2 beta (iPLA2β) and cytosolic phospholipase A2 gamma (cPLA2γ) enzymes.
In conclusion, our data suggested that iPLA2 may play a role as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia in our sample; however, confirmatory studies in independent samples are needed.
In conclusion, our data suggested that iPLA2 may play a role as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia in our sample; however, confirmatory studies in independent samples are needed.