Chapter 34 Development of a User-Friendly App for Testing Blood Coagulation Status in Schizophrenia Patients

摘要

Schizophrenia is characterized by a range of symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, social isolation, low motivation, and cognitive impairment [1]. The fact that current antipsychotic medications are only partly effective highlights the need for more effective therapies. Proteomic studies which aim to explain the underlying molecular dysfunction in this disorder could lead to identification of new therapeutic targets for better prognostic outcomes. A recent study found that schizophrenia patients who were on chronic warfarin therapy for deep-vein thrombosis had a reduction in their psychotic symptoms, which suggests that defects in the blood coagulation pathway might be involved in schizophrenia pathogenesis [2]. This is consistent with the findings of a mass spectrometry profiling study of sera from schizophrenia patients and controls, which showed prominent phosphorylation differences of multiple proteins in the coagulation pathway [3]. Another study showed that patients with other psychiatric disorders may experience worse anticoagulation control, compared with normal control subjects [4]. Thus, regular monitoring of the clotting activity in schizophrenia patients might provide real-time biomarker readouts. In addition, drugs which reduce clotting potential, such as warfarin, might offer an alternative or adjunct treatment strategy for this psychiatric disorder.