engleski

The concentration of trace elements in the hair of people with schizophrenia

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder, characterized by profound disruptions in thinking, affecting language, perception, and the sense of self. Differences in the concentration of trače elements can play an important part in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Materials and methods: The target population included individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia of both sexes, between 25 and 35 years of age, permanently resident in the area of the City of Zagreb, hospitalized in the Psychiatric Hospital Sveti Ivan and University Hospital Vrapče. The control group was composed by employees, not affected by psychiatric illnesses and homogeneous by age, sex and residence. Samples of hair were taken from the area located betvveen the scalp and the occipital region, cut off and prepared for analysis according to scientific standards. Data about demographic, social, nutritive and clinical parameters are gathered through the questionnaire. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was used to measure psychiatric symptoms. Results: Previous studies have confirmed there are differences betvveen the concentration of bioelements but were conducted using insufficiently sensitive analytical procedures, and with no data on a larger number of bioelements in the same sample of biological matrices. The samples were analyzed using lnductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry at the Centre of Medical Research in Zagreb but the statistic analysis of the data has not yet been performed. Discussion: Findings about different concentrations and main concentration components of trače elements may contribute to the better understanding of the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and may contribute to understand former contradictory results.

schizophrenia; trace elements; multielement profile; ICP-MS; hair

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