John Libbey Eurotext




What is the possible role for neuroscience in improving the treatment of the early phase of psychotic disorders? Example of the hypothesis of glutathione/redox deregulation in schizophrenia
l'Information Psychiatrique. Volume 86, Number 6, 484-92, juin-juillet 2010, Neurosciences
Résumé Texte intégral
Author(s) : Philippe Conus, Kim Q Do
Summary : Intervention in the early phase of psychotic disorders has gone through tremendous developments over the last 20 years. However, despite important improvements in service organization and in certain aspects of the therapeutic approach of patients going through this phase of the illness, various factors still limit the benefits of such changes. Among these factors, the lack of knowledge regarding the neurobiological mechanisms underlining the early phase of psychosis and its development, play a central role. A better knowledge of such mechanisms would contribute, through the identification of valid biomarkers, to the earlier and more specific identification of high risk patients during the prodromal phase of such disorders. It would also lead to the identification of new pharmacological targets, and to the development of new treatments aimed at the very mechanisms linked to the development of the illness. The study of the hypothesis of glutathione deficiency as a vulnerability factor for schizophrenia, within the framework of a close collaboration between clinicians and neuroscientists at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, is a step in this direction.
Keywords : psychosis, schizophrenia prodrome, early diagnosis, preventive medicine, neurobiology, pathophysiology, neuroscience, biomedical research, treatment

What is the possible role for neuroscience in improving the treatment of the early phase of psychotic disorders? Example of the hypothesis of glutathione/redox deregulation in schizophrenia