| Title |
Telomere length in blood cells is related to the chronicity, severity, and recurrence rate of schizophrenia
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, June 2015
|
| DOI | 10.2147/ndt.s82468 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Tomasz Pawelczyk, Bozena Szymanska, Marta Grancow-Grabka, Magdalena Kotlicka-Antczak, Agnieszka Pawelczyk |
| Abstract |
Telomere shortening is strongly associated with higher mortality rates and has been shown in a number of age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disorders, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's disease, and psychiatric disorders. Oxidative stress is known to induce DNA breaks and genome instability. Telomeric DNA rich in guanosine is particularly sensitive to such oxidative damages. Psychosis is associated with a disequilibrium between free radical production and antioxidative defense. Although telomere attrition has been demonstrated in schizophrenia, no relationship has been reported between telomere length and severity of schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to identify differences in telomere length in peripheral blood cells between patients with chronic schizophrenia (C-SCZ) and early schizophrenia (E-SCZ) and to identify any relationship between telomere length and disease chronicity and severity. Relative average telomere lengths were determined using qPCR assay in patients with E-SCZ (n=42) and C-SCZ (n=44) hospitalized due to schizophrenia exacerbation. E-SCZ was diagnosed when less than 2 years had passed since the beginning of psychotic symptoms. The severity of symptoms was assessed using appropriate scales. The severity of schizophrenia symptoms, as well as the number of psychotic episodes and hospital admissions, correlated significantly with telomere length in univariate analyses. Regression analysis revealed that a model incorporating study group (E-SCZ or C-ECZ), sex, and age, as well as the combined number of documented psychotic episodes and hospital admissions, can significantly predict the length of telomeres in patients with schizophrenia, with over 50% of variance in telomere length explained by the model (adjusted R (2)=0.512). The results of the current study indicate that the recurrence of psychotic symptoms as well as their intensity and chronicity may be correlated with telomere attrition, which is well known to contribute to the development of premature senescence and age-related diseases. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 2 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 66 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | 2% |
| Brazil | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 64 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 10 | 15% |
| Researcher | 7 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 11% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 7 | 11% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 9 | 14% |
| Unknown | 23 | 35% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 8 | 12% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 6 | 9% |
| Neuroscience | 5 | 8% |
| Psychology | 5 | 8% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 7 | 11% |
| Unknown | 33 | 50% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 14. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 09 July 2015.
All research outputs
#2,542,469
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment
#329
of 3,132 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#31,731
of 281,411 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment
#5
of 80 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,373,627 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 89th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,132 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 10.6. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 80 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.