Oxidative/Nitrosative stress in psychiatric disorders: are we there yet?

While oxidative stress has a clear role in neurodegenerative diseases, its involvement in psychiatric disorders is only beginning to be understood. Evidence for oxidative stress and redox dysregulation in psychiatric disorders is rapidly mounting, and preclinical data are increasingly suggesting oxidative stress can affect brain circuits involved in schizophrenia, yielding altered behaviors. This issue of Schizophrenia Bulletin covers some recent developments in human and animal studies highlighting the possibility of oxidative and nitrosative stress contributing to abnormal behaviors. Hayes et al 1 present data of inflammation-related measures in patients, at-risk subjects, and healthy controls revealing altered cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients and at-risk mental state subjects. Fournier et al 2 provide an interesting metabolomics approach in cells derived from patients and controls that highlight the possibility of using metabolic signatures of oxidative stress reactivity as biomarkers for prodrome or early psychosis. Overall, the articles point to the use of oxidative/nitrosative stress and inflammation measures as biomarkers for early psychosis and may pave the way to novel therapeutic approaches.

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