SynthesisBiology of sex differences2024
The impact of sex on gene expression in the brain of schizophrenic patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of transcriptomic studies.
Synthesis in Biology of sex differences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Long-Read sequencing in psychiatric omics: a systematic review of current evidence.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- A new mechanism underlying mitochondrial dysfunction in schizophrenia - attenuated mRNA transport of the complex I subunit NDUFV2 by its pseudogene NDUFV2P1.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Sex Differences in Schizophrenia Across the Reproductive Lifespan.Current psychiatry reports · 2026Review
- Molecular Signatures of Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia: Transcriptomic and Machine-Learning Insights into Calcium and cAMP Signaling, Including Sex-Specific Patterns.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Altered immune and inflammatory gene expression in prefrontal cortex of antipsychotic-free schizophrenia subjects.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Single-Cell Transcriptional Profiling Reveals Cell Type-Specific Sex-Dependent Molecular Patterns of Schizophrenia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
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6 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundSchizophrenia is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by altered perception, mood, and behavior that profoundly impacts patients and society despite its relatively low prevalence. Sex-based differences have been described in schizophrenia epidemiology, symptomatology and outcomes. Different studies explored the impact of schizophrenia in the brain transcriptome, however we lack a consensus transcriptomic profile that considers sex and differentiates specific cerebral regions.
methodsWe performed a systematic review on bulk RNA-sequencing studies of post-mortem brain samples. Then, we fulfilled differential expression analysis on each study and summarized their results with regions-specific meta-analyses (prefrontal cortex and hippocampus) and a global all-studies meta-analysis. Finally, we used the consensus transcriptomic profiles to functionally characterize the impact of schizophrenia in males and females by protein-protein interaction networks, enriched biological processes and dysregulated transcription factors.
resultsWe discovered the sex-based dysregulation of 265 genes in the prefrontal cortex, 1.414 genes in the hippocampus and 66 genes in the all-studies meta-analyses. The functional characterization of these gene sets unveiled increased processes related to immune response functions in the prefrontal cortex in male and the hippocampus in female schizophrenia patients and the overexpression of genes related to neurotransmission and synapses in the prefrontal cortex of female schizophrenia patients. Considering a meta-analysis of all brain regions available, we encountered the relative overexpression of genes related to synaptic plasticity and transmission in females and the overexpression of genes involved in organizing genetic information and protein folding in male schizophrenia patients. The protein-protein interaction networks and transcription factors activity analyses supported these sex-based profiles.
conclusionsOur results report multiple sex-based transcriptomic alterations in specific brain regions of schizophrenia patients, which provides new insight into the role of sex in schizophrenia. Moreover, we unveil a partial overlapping of inflammatory processes in the prefrontal cortex of males and the hippocampus of females.
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