Homocysteine levels in adolescent schizophrenia patients

Homocysteine is a sulfur containing amino acid that has been widely investigated for its putative role in cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric disorders. It has been suggested that homocysteine has implications especially in young, male schizophrenia patients. In this prospective case-control study, we compared plasma homocysteine levels in a group of adolescent schizophrenia inpatients (aged 14–21 years; n=23) to normal healthy controls (n=51). Mean plasma homocysteine levels were significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (15.40±2.00 and 9.78±0.33 μmol/L, respectively, p