The results of this research were striking. Twenty of the 42 schizophrenia brains that were analyzed contained significantly more insoluble proteins compared with the other 22 schizophrenia brains and the 41 control brains. The researchers then used a method called mass spectrometry to learn more about the proteins in the insoluble portion. In the brains with more insoluble proteins, they found unique and, also, abnormal proteins in greater abundance.
The fact that the abnormal proteins were present in only half of the brain samples from schizophrenia patients suggests that the observed protein abnormalities are likely to be found only in a subset of schizophrenia patients, the team said. This work thus provides evidence that subtypes of the illness exist, which has implications for diagnosis and treatment development.
