The niacin challenge test in schizophrenia: past, present and future

Schizophrenia, a complex, heterogeneous illness, represents a diagnostic challenge in that defining the clinical subtypes of this illness remains equivocal. Moreover, a scarcity of research has focused on the integration of the biochemical and clinical aspects of schizophrenia. Therefore, there is a need to approach the subtyping of schizophrenia with attention to potential clinical manifestations of underlying biochemical disturbances. In an attempt to subtype schizophrenia, we review some of the clinical and biochemical evidence for alterations in phospholipid function in schizophrenia.