Prefrontal fatty acid composition in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Association with reelin expression.

OBJECTIVE: The extracellular matrix protein reelin regulates early brain development and synaptic plasticity in adulthood. Reelin is decreased in the postmortem brain in schizophrenia patients. Reelin's two receptors, ApoER2 and VLDLR, are also substrates for ApoE - a key lipoprotein that regulates phospholipid homeostasis in the brain. The goal of the present study was therefore to examine phospholipids and their constituent fatty acids, and determine whether there is an association between reelin, its receptors and phospholipids in the brain.

METHODS: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA9) grey matter was obtained from the Stanley Foundation Neuropathology Consortium. Samples included tissue from 35 controls, 35 schizophrenia and 34 bipolar disorder patients. Phospholipids were measured using gas liquid chromatography.

RESULTS: We quantified 15 individual fatty acid or plasmalogen species for phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine fractions, each comprising >0.5% of the total fatty acid pool. There were no group differences in phospholipids or individual fatty acid species after correcting for multiple comparisons. However, for the entire cohort, both the polyunsaturated subclass of fatty acids, and ApoE, correlated significantly with reelin expression, with a number of individual ω-6 fatty acid species also demonstrating a significant positive correlation. There was a non-significant trend for similar effects with VLDLR expression as for reelin.

CONCLUSION: Phospholipids and fatty acids in the dorsolateral cortex do not differ in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and controls. Reelin expression in this brain region is associated with polyunsaturated fatty acids and ApoE, suggesting further study of potential physiological interactions between these substrates is warranted.