Abnormal niacin response may be a marker for schizophrenia.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – An abnormal response to niacin may help doctors differentiate between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, new research suggests.
“In our study of niacin response characteristics among 216 volunteers – the largest study of its kind – we demonstrated that the presence of an abnormal niacin response is specific to schizophrenia, not bipolar disorder, and that the presence of an abnormal niacin response can distinguish between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with 97% specificity,” lead study author Dr. Jeffrey K. Yao of the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health by email.
“In patients with schizophrenia, we repeatedly observed an abnormally low sensitivity to the skin flush effect of niacin. We also showed that the abnormality is only present in a subset of schizophrenia patients we believe are physiologically distinct from others. These patients are likely to have abnormal functioning of arachidonic acid-derived chemical messengers,” he said.”
We provide evidence that not all schizophrenias are physiologically similar – that some schizophrenias are characterized by an abnormal niacin response, and we show that niacin subsensitivity rarely occurs in bipolar disorder,” Dr. Yao said.
“It is extremely unlikely that schizophrenia arises from a single cause. In fact, the variable therapeutic response to antipsychotic medication provides strong evidence against a unitary cause of schizophrenia. It is important to discover physiologically distinct subtypes of schizophrenia. Niacin sensitivity may be a viable method to subtype the schizophrenias,” Dr. Yao said.”
The trick is to find biological indicators for quantifiable subtypes of schizophrenia and use those indicators to guide treatment choices,” said Dr. Aaron Janowsky, professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience of OHSU, in an email. “Those kinds of studies are ongoing.”