PMID- 16540246
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20060818
LR  - 20061115
IS  - 0304-3940 (Print)
IS  - 0304-3940 (Linking)
VI  - 400
IP  - 3
DP  - 2006 Jun 12
TI  - Adequate antipsychotic treatment normalizes serum nerve growth factor 
      concentrations in schizophrenia with and without cannabis or additional substance 
      abuse.
PG  - 262-6
AB  - Neurotrophins such as nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic 
      factor (BDNF) are important for the development and maintenance of neuron 
      function. Neurodevelopment is thought to be impaired in schizophrenia, and 
      vulnerable schizophrenic brains may be more sensitive to toxic influences. Thus, 
      cannabis as a neurotoxin (and other substances) may be more harmful to 
      schizophrenic brains than to non-schizophrenic brains, when used chronically. In 
      a previous study we demonstrated an earlier disease onset and significantly 
      higher serum NGF concentrations in drug-naive schizophrenic patients with 
      previous long-term cannabis abuse than in schizophrenics without cannabis abuse 
      or cannabis abusers without schizophrenia. We therefore investigated whether this 
      difference is still observed after treatment. Serum NGF measured in 114 treated 
      schizophrenic patients (schizophrenia alone, n=66; schizophrenia plus cannabis 
      abuse, n=42; schizophrenia plus multiple substance abuse, n=6) no longer differed 
      significantly among those groups and from the control groups (healthy controls, 
      n=51; cannabis controls, n=24; multiple substance controls, n=6). These results 
      were confirmed by an additional prospective study in 28 patients suffering from 
      schizophrenia (S) or schizophrenia with cannabis abuse (SC). Previously elevated 
      serum NGF levels in the drug-naive state, also differing between the groups (S: 
      83.44+/-265.25 pg/ml; SC: 246.89+/-310.24 pg/ml, S versus SC: p=0.03) dropped to 
      10.72+/-14.13 pg/ml (S) and 34.19+/-38.96 pg/ml (SC) (S versus SC, p>0.05), 
      respectively, after adequate antipsychotic treatment. We thus conclude that 
      antipsychotic treatment leads to recovery of neural integrity, as indicated by 
      renormalized NGF values.
FAU - Jockers-Scherubl, Maria C
AU  - Jockers-Scherubl MC
AD  - Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charite-University Medicine Berlin, 
      Campus Benjamin Franklin, Eschenallee 3, 14050 Berlin, Germany. 
      maria.jockers@charite.de
FAU - Rentzsch, Johannes
AU  - Rentzsch J
FAU - Danker-Hopfe, Heidi
AU  - Danker-Hopfe H
FAU - Radzei, Nicole
AU  - Radzei N
FAU - Schurer, Falk
AU  - Schurer F
FAU - Bahri, Sharif
AU  - Bahri S
FAU - Hellweg, Rainer
AU  - Hellweg R
LA  - eng
PT  - Controlled Clinical Trial
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20060315
PL  - Ireland
TA  - Neurosci Lett
JT  - Neuroscience letters
JID - 7600130
RN  - 0 (Antipsychotic Agents)
RN  - 0 (Drug Combinations)
RN  - 9061-61-4 (Nerve Growth Factor)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Antipsychotic Agents/*administration & dosage
MH  - Drug Combinations
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Marijuana Abuse/blood/complications
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Nerve Growth Factor/*blood
MH  - Recovery of Function/drug effects
MH  - Schizophrenia/*blood/*drug therapy
MH  - Substance-Related Disorders/*blood/complications
MH  - Treatment Outcome
EDAT- 2006/03/17 09:00
MHDA- 2006/08/19 09:00
CRDT- 2006/03/17 09:00
PHST- 2006/01/12 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2006/02/20 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2006/02/21 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2006/03/17 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2006/08/19 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2006/03/17 09:00 [entrez]
AID - S0304-3940(06)00217-5 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.neulet.2006.02.056 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Neurosci Lett. 2006 Jun 12;400(3):262-6. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2006.02.056. Epub 
      2006 Mar 15.