RED-BLOOD-CELL MEMBRANE DYNAMICS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA .2. FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION

Fatty acid compositions were determined in red blood cell (RBC) ghost membranes of schizophrenic patients before and after haloperidol withd rawal, as well as with age-matched normal male control subjects (n = 2 2). Patients on haloperidol (HD) received treatment in doses between 5 and 20 mg/day for at least 5 weeks (n = 24). Drug-free patients (n = 19) were free of all psychotropic medications for an average of 40 day s. A highly significant decrease in the levels (nmol/ml packed RBC) of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly 18:2(n - 6) and 20: 4(n - 6), was found in both HD-treated and drug-free patients. This de crease remained in those patients who had withdrawn from HD for more t han 5 weeks (n = 10). Concomitantly, the percentage of saturated and m onoenoic fatty acids to total fatty acids increased significantly in s chizophrenic patients. The resultant fatty acid profile consequently l owers the unsaturation index (UI), which represents the average number of double bonds per fatty acid molecule, in RBC ghost membranes of sc hizophrenic patients. Furthermore, the decreases in UI were significan tly correlated to the increases in ''structure order'' of RBC ghost me mbranes as measured by the steady-state fluorescence anisotropy (r(s)) in normal control and drug-free schizophrenic subjects. Therefore, it is likely that decreased levels of PUFAs in schizophrenic patients mi ght result from a defective uptake of 18:2(n-6) into RBC membrane phos pholipids. Since fatty acid composition of membrane phospholipids affe cts the relative degree of membrane fluidity, the present results lend further support that RBC membrane dynamics are altered in schizophren ia.