ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2015
Telomere length in blood cells is related to the chronicity, severity, and recurrence rate of schizophrenia.
Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychotic relapse prediction via biomarker monitoring: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Biomarkers for Predicting Clinical Deterioration in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Pharmacoepigenetics in schizophrenia: Predicting drug response.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- Limited evidence of association between dysregulated immune marker levels and telomere length in severe mental disorders.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2025Article
- Relation ofClinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Article
- Epigenetic clocks in relapse after a first episode of schizophrenia.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2022Article
- Review
- Diverse definitions of the early course of schizophrenia-a targeted literature review.NPJ schizophrenia · 2018Review
- Systemic Biomarkers of Accelerated Aging in Schizophrenia: A Critical Review and Future Directions.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2018Review
- Cancer Immune Equilibrium and Schizophrenia Have Similar Interferon-γ, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, and Interleukin Expression: A Tumor Model of Schizophrenia.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2016Article
- Analyzing leukocyte telomere length in bipolar disorder.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionTelomere shortening is strongly associated with higher mortality rates and has been shown in a number of age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disorders, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's disease, and psychiatric disorders. Oxidative stress is known to induce DNA breaks and genome instability. Telomeric DNA rich in guanosine is particularly sensitive to such oxidative damages. Psychosis is associated with a disequilibrium between free radical production and antioxidative defense. Although telomere attrition has been demonstrated in schizophrenia, no relationship has been reported between telomere length and severity of schizophrenia.
aimThe aim of the present study was to identify differences in telomere length in peripheral blood cells between patients with chronic schizophrenia (C-SCZ) and early schizophrenia (E-SCZ) and to identify any relationship between telomere length and disease chronicity and severity.
methodsRelative average telomere lengths were determined using qPCR assay in patients with E-SCZ (n=42) and C-SCZ (n=44) hospitalized due to schizophrenia exacerbation. E-SCZ was diagnosed when less than 2 years had passed since the beginning of psychotic symptoms. The severity of symptoms was assessed using appropriate scales.
resultsThe severity of schizophrenia symptoms, as well as the number of psychotic episodes and hospital admissions, correlated significantly with telomere length in univariate analyses. Regression analysis revealed that a model incorporating study group (E-SCZ or C-ECZ), sex, and age, as well as the combined number of documented psychotic episodes and hospital admissions, can significantly predict the length of telomeres in patients with schizophrenia, with over 50% of variance in telomere length explained by the model (adjusted R (2)=0.512).
conclusionThe results of the current study indicate that the recurrence of psychotic symptoms as well as their intensity and chronicity may be correlated with telomere attrition, which is well known to contribute to the development of premature senescence and age-related diseases.
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