Abstract
Psychiatric disorders impose a huge burden on individuals, families, and society. The Alu repeat sequence is a member of the short interspersed nuclear element (SINE) family of mammalian genomes, however, its expression pattern and role in psychiatric disorders is unclear. The current paper aimed at determining the concentrations of Alu in patients with schizophrenia (SZ), major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol-induced psychotic disorder (AIPD), and to further define the role and value of Alu as a potential biomarker in psychiatric disorders. In this work, we found that the concentration of Alu was considerably incremented in patients with SZ, and a significant difference existed between patients diagnosed with SZ and MDD or AIPD. ROC analysis also indicated that Alu was effective in the complementary diagnosis of SZ, and differentially diagnosed between SZ patients and patients with MDD or AIPD. In addition, we found a positive relationship between the Alu concentrations and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in patients with SZ, MDD, and AIPD, and between the concentrations of Alu and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in patients with SZ. Overall, the present work indicates that Alu might be an innovative biomarker for diagnosing psychiatric disorders, and provides the basis for hypotheses about the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.
Highlights
The development and progression of psychiatric disorders, whose clinical signs include disorders in emotion, cognition, and behavior, are related to genetic and environmental factors
The concentration of Alu was considerably incremented in patients with SZ, and we found a considerable difference between SZ patients and major depressive disorder (MDD) or alcohol-induced psychotic disorder (AIPD) patients
The average concentrations of Alu in patients suffering from SZ, MDD, AIPD, and healthy people were 593.5 ng/ml, 225.2 ng/ml, 315.3 ng/ml, and 318.3 ng/ml, respectively
Summary
The development and progression of psychiatric disorders, whose clinical signs include disorders in emotion, cognition, and behavior, are related to genetic and environmental factors. Huge burdens are imposed by psychiatric disorders on families, individuals, and society. The psychiatric disorders burden is about 13% in China, ranking third in the world after cardiovascular disease and cancer. Schizophrenia (SZ), major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol-induced psychotic disorder (AIPD) are the main types of psychiatric disorders in Nantong, Jiangsu, China. Diagnosis mainly depends on clinical symptoms, prognosis, and course of the disease, they are not specific for psychiatric disorders. Some characteristics are applied to SZ, MDD, and AIPD. Difficulties exist in the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders, which are based merely on clinical indications. Serological biomarkers are precise, objective, and easy to apply, with wide applications in various
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
