Accumulation of N-Acylphosphatidylserines and N-Acylserines in the Frontal Cortex in Schizophrenia

While schizophrenia is generally considered a neurodevelopment disorder, our basic understanding of the biochemical processes involved in disease etiology and/or progression is limited. One class of biochemical mediators that has been suggested to play a role in the development of schizophrenia is N-acyl ethanolamine metabolites of N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines. However, no investigations of N-acylphosphatidylserines or their N-acylserine metabolites have been published.

We undertook a targeted postmortem lipidomics analysis of N-acylphosphatidylserines (NAPS) and N-acylserines (NAS) in gray matter of the frontal cortex of schizophrenia subjects.

Our data are the first to demonstrate that NAPS and NAS are present in human brain. Furthermore, NAPS and their bioactive metabolites, N-acylserines (NAS), were found to be significantly elevated in the frontal cortex of schizophrenia subjects.

Elevated levels of NAPS lipid pools in schizophrenia may result in complex alterations in the structural function of neuronal membranes while increases in NAS may alter signal transduction pathways.