npj Schizophrenia (Apr 2017)

Decreased free d-aspartate levels are linked to enhanced d-aspartate oxidase activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia patients

  • Tommaso Nuzzo,
  • Silvia Sacchi,
  • Francesco Errico,
  • Simona Keller,
  • Orazio Palumbo,
  • Ermanno Florio,
  • Daniela Punzo,
  • Francesco Napolitano,
  • Massimiliano Copetti,
  • Massimo Carella,
  • Lorenzo Chiariotti,
  • Alessandro Bertolino,
  • Loredano Pollegioni,
  • Alessandro Usiello

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-017-0015-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

Read online

NMDA receptor: Enzyme breaks down ion channel activator in schizophrenic brain Altered metabolism of an amino acid activator of ion channels in the brain could explain dysfunctional nerve signaling in schizophrenia. Researchers in Italy led by Alessandro Usiello from Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate and Loredano Pollegioni from the University of Insubria measured the levels of two amino acids—D-aspartate and D-serine—in post-mortem tissues taken from two brain regions of patients with and without schizophrenia. Both amino acids activate the N-methyl D-aspartate receptor, which is known to be less active in people with schizophrenia. The researchers found a mild increase in D-serine levels but a major decrease in D-aspartate in the schizophrenia patients’ dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a memory and reasoning part of the brain, but not in the hippocampus. They also documented a greater activity of the enzyme responsible for D-aspartate breakdown in the DLPFC.