Increased PLA2 activity in the hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and psychosis

Abstract Objective The aim of this work was to investigate whether increased activity of the enzyme phospholipase A2 (PLA2 ) in the brain, as frequently reported in schizophrenia, is also related to psychosis in epilepsy. Our working hypothesis was based on the increased prevalence of schizophrenia-like psychosis in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) secondary to mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS), as compared to patients with other forms of epilepsy. Methods We determined PLA2 activity in hippocampal tissue from 7 patients with TLE-MTS and psychosis, as compared to 9 TLE-MTS patients without psychosis. Hippocampal tissue was obtained from patients who underwent an anterior temporal lobectomy due to therapy-resistant epilepsy. Results We found that patients with TLE-MTS and psychosis had a significantly increased calcium-independent PLA2 activity as compared to patients without psychosis ( p = 0.016). Conclusion Our finding suggest that an increment in brain PLA2 activity is not specific for schizophrenia, but rather may be associated to the manifestation of schizophrenia-like psychotic symptoms in general.