Schizophrenia, manic depression have common genetic cause/ study

04 сентября, 2003
PARIS, Sept 5 - Schizophrenia and manic depression have a similar genetic source linked to flawed development of a key component of the central nervous system, a study published in Saturday's Lancet suggests. AFP English Wire via NewsEdge Corporation : PARIS, Sept 5 (AFP) - Schizophrenia and manic depression have a similar genetic source linked to flawed development of a key component of the central nervous system, a study published in Saturday's Lancet suggests. It points the finger at genes that are responsible for myelin, a fatty protein that, like insulation in electrical wiring, coats the strands of nerve cells which send signals to and from the brain. Evidence comes from an assessment of myelin proteins taken from the preserved brains of 15 people who had had schizophrenia; 15 with bipolar disorder, as manic depression is formally known; and 15 individuals who had neither ailment. Schizophrenia and manic depression are major psychotic illnesses that affected roughly one person in 50. Previous avenues of research have explored the theory that the problems lie in brain cells (neurons) themselves; in the gap between those cells, called the synapse; or in chemicals called neurotransmitters which transmit messages between neurons. The study was led by Dmitri Tkachev, a neurobiologist at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England. ri/rl Health-disease-schizophrenia AFP 042301 GMT 09 03 <> << Copyright ©2003 Agence France-Presse >>
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