Can Schizophrenia Be Related to Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol? Some Speculations

Jb, Lohr; Hs, Bracha

doi:10.1093/schbul/15.4.595

Cited by 27 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There have been reports linking schizophrenia to obstetrical complications (Woerner et al 1973;DeLisi et al 1988;McNiel 1988;Hultman et al 1997;Dalman et al 1999), in utero exposure to alcohol (Lohr and Bracha 1989) and severe malnutrition (Susser and Lin 1992). Although many of these data are controversial (for review, see Weinberger 1995), a number of animal models have been designed to test the plausibility that specific gestational factors play a role in the origin of this disorder.…”

Section: Testing Etiologic Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

To Model a Psychiatric Disorder in Animals Schizophrenia As a Reality Test

Lipska

Weinberger

2000

Neuropsychopharmacology

588

386

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal modeling has been instrumental in dissectingAnimal models are important developments in investigations of the mechanisms underlying a human disease and the design of new treatments. This is true for many diseases, but generally not for mental disorders, whose modeling in experimental animals has often been regarded as a highly controversial or outright heretic idea. An example of a particularly formidable challenge for animal modeling is schizophrenia, a complex disorder of unknown origin, characterized by abnormalities of uniquely human behaviors in the realms of perception, thinking and the experience of emotions, and whose onset is virtually restricted to young adulthood. Schizophrenia is such an inherently human disease that reproducing its most prominent symptoms-hallucinations, delusions and thought disorder-in a rodent or even in a non-human primate seems doomed. However, recent new evidence about the neurobiology of the condition has generated new avenues of animal research. In this perspective article, we highlight recent achievements in the efforts to model the neurobiology of schizophrenia in animals, consider limitations inherent in any heuristic animal model of this and probably other psychiatric disorders, and discuss the usefulness of a new generation of animal models for testing particular hypotheses about etiology and pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

show abstract

Section: Testing Etiologic Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

To Model a Psychiatric Disorder in Animals Schizophrenia As a Reality Test

Lipska

Weinberger

2000

Neuropsychopharmacology

588

386

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Prenatal exposure to alcohol may be another non-genetic risk factor for the development of schizophrenia [30]. The effects of alcohol on the developing brain are particularly complex [30].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The effects of alcohol on the developing brain are particularly complex [30]. Peak concentrations of alcohol are found in the hippocampus following maternal exposure to alcohol.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Peak concentrations of alcohol are found in the hippocampus following maternal exposure to alcohol. There is some evidence that approximately six months after the time of peak of alcohol consumption in the general population there is an increase in the births of patients who develop schizophrenia [30]. This would place the critical fetal developmental period of vulnerability to alcohol somewhere in the early second trimester.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Excess in the spring and deficit in the autumn in birth rates of male schizophrenic patients in Italy: Potential role of perinatal risk factors

Bersani

Pucci

Gherardelli

et al. 2006

The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Alterations in the isoforms of haptoglobin are not unique to FAS because isoforms of this protein were recently found to be elevated among patients with both Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia [33] and among mothers who gave birth to children with Down Syndrome [32]. Alzheimers disease, schizophrenia, and Down syndrome affect the central nervous system, and some cases of schizophrenia are currently thought to be caused by fetal alcohol exposure [63]. These proteins are not expected to be useful as biomarkers of FAS, but they may be useful as biomarkers of neurological damage.…”

Section: Other Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two‐dimensional protein electrophoresis and multiple hypothesis testing to detect potential serum protein biomarkers in children with fetal alcohol syndrome

et al. 1995

Electrophoresis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) surveillance and intervention efforts are hampered by the lack of a specific biochemical test for diagnosis of the syndrome. Based on the hypothesis that abnormalities in growth and development (key features of FAS) involve altered protein metabolism, we analyzed serum proteins by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and image analysis to search for potential protein biomarkers of FAS. Serum samples from 12 participants in whom FAS had been diagnosed and 8 sex- and age-matched participants whose mothers did not consume alcohol were analyzed in duplicate to determine whether the integrated intensities of matched proteins are significantly altered in children with FAS. Multiple hypothesis testing on 34 of the gels consisting of more than 1700 spots per gel revealed 21 proteins that we classified as potential protein biomarkers of FAS on the basis of significant t-test differences at p < 0.02. We classified 8 of the proteins as candidate biomarkers on the basis of significant concentration differences between case and control subjects at p < 0.01. One of the proteins is clearly an isoform of retinol binding protein; two appear in the area of the gel where alcohol dehydrogenase is expected to appear; one appears to be an isoform of alpha-1-antitrypsin; three appear to be isoforms of the beta-chain of haptoglobin; three may be forms of immunoglobulin light chains; and several others have not been associated with known proteins. No single protein differentiated all case subjects from control subjects, but stepwise canonical discriminant analyses revealed four groups of spots that distinguished between FAS case and control subjects with no misclassifications.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

show abstract

Can Schizophrenia Be Related to Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol? Some Speculations

Abstract: There is a growing body of evidence implicating prenatal insults in the etiology of schizophrenia, although the etiological process is unclear. In this article we propose that prenatal exposure to alcohol may relate to a small fraction of patients who later develop schizophrenia.

Cited by 27 publications

References 66 publications

To Model a Psychiatric Disorder in Animals Schizophrenia As a Reality Test

To Model a Psychiatric Disorder in Animals Schizophrenia As a Reality Test

Excess in the spring and deficit in the autumn in birth rates of male schizophrenic patients in Italy: Potential role of perinatal risk factors

Two‐dimensional protein electrophoresis and multiple hypothesis testing to detect potential serum protein biomarkers in children with fetal alcohol syndrome

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About