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DNA Fragmentation has been shown to be decreased in schizophrenia but not bipolar disorder. A study published this month in the Archives of General Psychiatry revealed that single-stranded DNA breaks, a marker for oxidative stress, was found to have an unexpected reduction in schizophrenic patients. This unexpected reduction (71%) in Klenow-positive nuclei was found in schizophrenic but not in bipolar cortexes. This finding raises a key question as to whether a suppression of apoptosis represents an adaptive or nonadaptive change in schizophrenia.
The researchers conclude that "to our knowledge to date, this is the first demonstration that there is much less DNA fragmentation in individuals with schizophrenia than in healthy controls and bipolar subjects." Although the number of subjects was small (18 healthy controls, 18 schizophrenic subjects, and 10 bipolar subjects) the finding is important and will encourage some further research in this area.
10:18:44 PM 
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