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  • Reduced D-serine to total serine ratio in the cerebrospinal fluid of drug naive schizophrenic patients.

Reduced D-serine to total serine ratio in the cerebrospinal fluid of drug naive schizophrenic patients.

Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry (2005-06-09)
Kenji Hashimoto, Göran Engberg, Eiji Shimizu, Conny Nordin, Leif H Lindström, Masaomi Iyo
ABSTRACT

Several lines of evidence suggest that D-serine, an endogenous agonist of the glycine site on the NMDA receptors, might play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to determine whether levels of D- and L-serine or D-serine ratio (D-serine/total serine) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were altered in first episode and drug-naive schizophrenic patients. The CSF levels of D- and L-serine in 25 male first episode and drug-naive schizophrenic patients and 17 age-matched male healthy subjects were measured using a column-switching high performance liquid chromatography system. The percentage of D-serine in the total serine of patients was significantly (z = -2.01, p = 0.044) lower than that of controls. This study suggests that synthetic or metabolic pathways of D-serine may be abnormal in the brain of drug-naive schizophrenic patients, supporting the NMDA receptor dysfunction hypothesis of schizophrenia.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Supelco
L-Serine, Pharmaceutical Secondary Standard; Certified Reference Material
Supelco
L-Serine, certified reference material, TraceCERT®, Manufactured by: Sigma-Aldrich Production GmbH, Switzerland
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Serine, ReagentPlus®, ≥99% (HPLC)
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Serine, from non-animal source, meets EP, USP testing specifications, suitable for cell culture, 98.5-101.0%
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Serine, BioUltra, ≥99.5% (NT)
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Serine, Vetec, reagent grade, ≥99%