[Biological determinants of schizophrenic psychoses]

In this article the biological factors i.e. neuropathological/structural and biochemical, involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia are reviewed. Particularly the endorphin hypothesis, which states that disturbances in the fragmentation of beta-endorphin are implicated in schizophrenia, is emphasized. The concept of type I and type II schizophrenia, disturbances in the serine-glycine metabolism and the neuropeptide strategy are currently under investigation.