ABSTRACT
Susceptibility to non-enzymatic peroxidation of erythrocyte membranes from medicated schizophrenic patients relative to healthy control subjects was investigated by measuring internalization into erythrocytes of ethylene glycol, cellobiotol or mannitol, with or without preincubation with cumene hydroperoxide or with chlorpromazine. The main finding was that erythrocytes from schizophrenic patients were less susceptible than those from control subjects to non-enzymatic oxidative damage from cumene hydroperoxide, as measured by internalization of cellobiotol and mannitol. At baseline before incubation, there was reduced internalization of cellobiotol and mannitol and this was reduced even further by preincubation with chlorpromazine. It is suggested that previous findings of fatty acid deficits in erythrocyte membranes from neuroleptic-treated schizophrenic patients are unlikely to have resulted from non-enzymatic oxidative damage of the membrane. Furthermore, it is suggested that depleted erythrocyte membrane essential fatty acids are more likely to be the result of the schizophrenic process rather than antipsychotic drug treatment, and that antipsychotic drugs may even offer protection against membrane lipid peroxidation.
Subject(s)
Antipsychotic Agents/therapeutic use , Cell Membrane Permeability/physiology , Chlorpromazine/therapeutic use , Erythrocyte Membrane/physiology , Oxidative Stress/physiology , Schizophrenia/blood , Adolescent , Adult , Antipsychotic Agents/pharmacology , Benzene Derivatives/pharmacology , Biological Transport , Cell Membrane Permeability/drug effects , Chlorpromazine/pharmacology , Erythrocyte Membrane/drug effects , Ethylene Glycol , Ethylene Glycols/metabolism , Female , Humans , Male , Mannitol/metabolism , Middle Aged , Oxidants/pharmacology , Oxidative Stress/drug effects , Schizophrenia/drug therapy , Schizophrenia/physiopathology , Sugar Alcohols/metabolismABSTRACT
Teratomas are tumours which may arise spontaneously in the testis or ovary or may be induced experimentally by the implantation of young embryos into ectopic sites. In this study the nervous tissue within mouse teratomas was investigated by light and electronmicroscopy. Characteristic neuroepithelial tubules, neurons, glia and neuropil were recognized and showed no ultrastructural abnormality apart from collagenous infiltration. Synapses were frequently observed. However, other features of mature C.N.S. tissue including myelin and complex synaptic configurations were never seen, and it was not possible to recognize distinct classes of neurons, or organizations of cells and processes which characterized specific regions of the C.N.S. The limited differentiation of the nervous tissue of teratomas is discussed with reference to the normal development of C.N.A. in vivo and in vitro. The presence of synapses in the nervous tissue of teratomas is interpreted as a reflection of an intrinsic tendency of neuronal processes to form these specialized contacts even under conditions which prevent the development of certain other characteristics of nervous tissue.
