Serum Proteome Analysis of Catatonia

Abstract

The exact mechanism of catatonia remains a mystery. We tried to investigate the serum biomarkers for patients with catatonia before and after successful treatment using proteomic analysis. During a three-year period, nine patients with schizophrenia who experienced catatonia and nine healthy controls were recruited. 5 ml of venous blood were collected before (acute phase) and after treatment (recovery phase) of catatonia, relieved by intramuscular lorazepam injection. The serum proteomes of acute and recovery phase were compared using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE), combined with matrixassisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI)-time-of-flight (TOF) TOF mass spectrometry (MS). The findings were then validated with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by comparing data of patients and healthy controls. Ten differentially expressed protein spots were identified comparing serum proteome profiles of acute phase and recovery phase of catatonia from 2D PAGE. Alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein (AHSG), plasma retinol-binding protein (RBP4) and serum amyloid P component (APCS) may be potential disease-associated biomarkers for catatonia. In the validation phase, those serum proteins were measured in serum of both acute and recovery phase as well as healthy controls with ELISA. Mann-Whitney U-test showed that patients with catatonia in acute phase (p = 0.006) and recovery phase (p = 0.019) both had significantly higher APCS levels than healthy controls. Using ANCOVA with age adjustment, patients with catatonia in acute phase also had significantly higher APCS level than healthy controls (p = 0.048). Our investigation provided a proteomic study in biomarker research of catatonia. APCS might be an important biomaker for the psychopathology in catatonia of schizophrenia. In future, a larger of sample size will be needed to prove these results.

Associations of Genetic Polymorphisms and Neuroimmune Markers With Some Parameters of Frontal Lobe Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

“…Besides, it is known that the catatonia symptoms can reflect the extreme severity of affective deficit (48). According to other studies patients with schizophrenia accompanied by catatonic symptoms are found to have lower serum BDNF levels (49,50), which proves the link between BDNF and catatonia symptoms (51). According to findings of other researcher, motor functions significantly correlate with cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia (52).…”

Catatonia Due to General Medical Conditions in Psychiatric Patients: Implications for Clinical Practice

“…Moreover, there was no significant difference between serum iron levels during and between catatonic episodes which could indicate an underlying vulnerability, according to the authors [15]. Other research has suggested that the serum amyloid P component could be a potential diseaseassociated biomarker for catatonia [16]. In the largest study of catatonia neuroimaging on psychiatric inpatients to date, it was found that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan abnormalities were common in patients with catatonia, and mostly consisted of diffuse cerebral atrophy rather than focal lesions.…”