[BB creatine phosphokinase activity of the brain structures of mentally healthy persons and schizophrenics]

Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) activity has been determined in certain brain structures of schizophrenics and control subjects. It has been found that CPK activity in different structures of the normal human brain is heterogeneous, being the maximal in the occipital cortex (2.80 U/mg of protein) and thalamus (1.87 U/mg of protein) and the minimal in the temporal cortex (0.30 U/mg). In schizophrenic patients, CPK activity was significantly depressed (by 80-90%, P less than 0.001) in the occipital cortex and thalamus, as well as in the substantia nigra, limbic cortex and grey tuber (P less than 0.001) but remaining unaltered in the frontal, temporal and parietal cortex. It has been demonstrated that decrease in CPK activity does not depend on the post-mortem interval, sex and age of those examined or the psychotropic therapy conducted but appears to be related to a pathological process in the nervous tissue.