Heme oxygenase-1 in blood and saliva during acute psychosis: A pilot study. (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bertrand, Thomas; Tavitian, Ayda; Galindez, Julia M.; Kothari, Vimal; Mohit, Shrisha; Galindez, Carmela; Liberman, Adrienne; Glass, Judy; Velly, Ana M.; Gornitsky, Mervyn; Looper, Karl; Rej, Soham; Schipper, Hyman M.
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 299(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: Heme oxygenase-1 -- Oxidative stress -- Psychosis -- Schizophrenia; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113857
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Highlights: Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression was compared between patients experiencing an acute psychotic episode and healthy control participants. HO-1 expression was measured in plasma, saliva and lymphocytes. Plasma and lymphocyte HO-1 did not significantly differ between study groups. Higher levels of salivary HO-1 were detected in patients than in control participants. Overexpression of HO-1 in saliva specimens was positively associated with psychiatric symptom severity and disability. Abstract: Despite the extensive prevalence of psychosis and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, their biological underpinnings remain largely unexplained. Recently, the overproduction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of heme, was associated with oxidative stress and a neurologic phenotype similar to schizophrenia in transgenic mice. We sought to evaluate, by comparing patients experiencing an acute psychotic episode, and age/sex-matched healthy control participants, whether there was an association between HO-1 overexpression and psychosis. This cross-sectional pilot study included 16 patients and 17 control participants. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to quantify HO-1 expression in blood and saliva. Four psychiatric questionnaires were used to measure psychiatric symptoms in participants. Higher levels of salivary HO-1 expression were detected in patients experiencing an acute psychotic episode when compared to control participants (84.01 vs. 61.26 ng/ml, p = 0.026), but plasma and lymphocyte HO-1 expression did not significantly differ between groups. Overexpression of HO-1 in saliva specimens was also positively associated with psychiatric symptom severity and disability. The overexpression of HO-1 in the saliva of patients with psychosis suggests that it may serve as a potential biomarker for this symptom which should be explored in larger clinical trials.