Correlations between peripheral polyunsaturated fatty acid content and in vivo membrane phospholipid metabolites

Background There is evidence for membrane abnormalities in schizophrenia. It is unclear whether the observed membrane deficits in peripheral cells parallel central membrane phospholipid metabolism. To address this question we examined the relations between red blood cell polyunsaturated fatty acids and brain phospholipid metabolites from different regions of interest in schizophrenia and healthy subjects. Methods Red blood cell membrane fatty acids were measured by capillary gas chromatography and in vivo brain phospholipid metabolite levels were measured using a multi-voxel 31P Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy technique on 11 first-episode, neuroleptic-naïve schizophrenic subjects and 11 normal control subjects. Results Both the total polyunsaturated fatty acids and the individual 20:4(n-6) contents were significantly correlated with the freely-mobile phosphomonoester [PME(s-τc)] levels (r = .5643, p = .0062 and r = .6729, p = .0006, respectively). The 18:2(n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids content correlated positively with freely-mobile phosphodiester [PDE(s-τc)] levels (r = .5573, p = .0071). The above correlations were present in the combined right and left prefrontal region of the brain, while other regions including the basal ganglia, occipital, inferior parietal, superior temporal and centrum semiovale yielded no significant correlations. Conclusions Our preliminary data support the association between the decreased red blood cell membrane phospholipid polyunsaturated fatty acids content and the decreased building blocks [PME(s-τc)] and breakdown products [PDE(s-τc)] of membrane phospholipids in the prefrontal region of first-episode, neuroleptic-naïve schizophrenic subjects.