Comparison of erythrocyte omega-3 index, fatty acids and molecular phospholipid species in people at ultra-high risk of developing psychosis and healthy people

Ayedh Alqarni; Todd W Mitchell; Patrick D McGorry; Barnaby Nelson; Connie Markulev; Hok Pan Yuen; Miriam R Schafer; Maximus Berger; Nilufar Mossaheb; Monika Schlogelhofer; Stefan Smesny; Ian B Hickie; Gregor E Berger; Eric YH Chen; Lieuwe de Haan; Dorien H Nieman; Merete Nordentoft; Anita Riecher-Rossler; Swapna Verma; Andrew Thompson; Alison Ruth Yung; G Paul Amminger; Barbara J Meyer

Journal article

Comparison of erythrocyte omega-3 index, fatty acids and molecular phospholipid species in people at ultra-high risk of developing psychosis and healthy people

Ayedh Alqarni, Todd W Mitchell, Patrick D McGorry, Barnaby Nelson, Connie Markulev, Hok Pan Yuen, Miriam R Schafer, Maximus Berger, Nilufar Mossaheb, Monika Schlogelhofer, Stefan Smesny, Ian B Hickie, Gregor E Berger, Eric YH Chen, Lieuwe de Haan, Dorien H Nieman, Merete Nordentoft, Anita Riecher-Rossler, Swapna Verma, Andrew Thompson Show all

SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH | ELSEVIER | Published : 2020

DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.06.020

Abstract

People classified as ultra-high risk (UHR) of developing psychosis have reduced cellular membrane omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). We aimed to compare omega-3 index, fatty acids and molecular phospholipid species from erythrocytes of people with UHR (n = 285) with age-matched healthy controls (n = 120) assessed by mass spectrometry. Lower proportions of PUFA were observed in the UHR group compared to healthy controls; specifically, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was 29.3% lower, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was 27.2% lower, arachidonic acid (AA) was 15.8% lower and the omega-3 index was 26.9% lower. The AA to EPA ratio was higher in the UHR group compared to the healthy gro..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Hok Yuen Author Centre for Youth Mental Health

Maximus Berger Author Centre for Youth Mental Health

Paul Amminger Author Centre for Youth Mental Health

Connie Markulev Author Centre for Youth Mental Health

Andrew Thompson Author Centre for Youth Mental Health

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Grants

Awarded by Stanley Medical Research Institute

Awarded by NHMRC Australia Program

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC)

Awarded by NHMRC

Awarded by NHMRC Career Development Fellowship

Awarded by ARC Future Fellowship

Awarded by Swiss National Science Foundation

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grant 07TGF-1102 from the Stanley Medical Research Institute, grant 566529 from the NHMRC Australia Program (DrsMcGorry, Hickie, and Yung, and Amminger), and a grant from the Colonial Foundation. Dr. McGorry was supported by Senior Principal Research Fellowship 1060996 from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC); Drs Yung and Amminger were supported by NHMRC Senior Research Fellowships 1080963 and 566593, respectively; Dr. Nelson was supported by NHMRC Career Development Fellowship 1027532; and Dr. Mitchell was supported by an ARC Future Fellowship FT110100249 and Dr. Berger is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF 33IC30 166826). This research was also supported by a small grant from the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong. The authors would like to thank the volunteers that participated in this study. We also thank King Fahad Specialist Hospital administration, Dammam, Saudi Arabia for sponsoring Ayedh Alqarni.