Finding genes involved in schizophrenia is the goal of the research being carried out by geneticist Dr. Roel Ophoff and psychiatrist Prof. Dr. René Kahn of the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht, in conjunction with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the United States. In October 2006 they received a grant worth nearly four million dollars from the American National Institute of Mental Health for their research.
Insight into the genetic background of schizophrenia will lead to improved diagnoses, and in the long term make it possible to provide better treatment for this brain disorder.

For some time now it has been known that the disease has a genetic background. Studies done over the past ten years have concentrated primarily on particular families in which schizophrenia regularly occurs. Also, researchers would look at only a single gene or a small number of genes. If this produced no results, the researchers would start over again with the next candidate gene.

Breakthrough

Ophoff: “By 2005 the technology had been developed to such a degree that we can now explore the entire genome (all of the hereditary information) – a huge breakthrough. In fact, we can now sweep the table clean and arrange on it the genomes of a large number of schizophrenia patients and – one by one – investigate whether there is a link to schizophrenia.

A wealth of information

Ophoff and Kahn are comparing the genomes of 850 Dutch schizophrenia patients with those of 750 people who do not have the disease. UMC Utrecht is providing the data for this mega study and is studying the data together with partner UCLA. “The Department of Psychiatry at UMC Utrecht is specialized in the diagnostics of schizophrenia. For every patient, the disease is set out in the same, detailed way. This provides a wealth of information, not only for the doctors, but also for us as genetic researchers.

Win-win situation

This is one of the first large-scale studies of its kind anywhere for a psychiatric condition. “In the Netherlands, we could not possibly have raised so much money for a study like this,” said Ophoff. “In the United States we could. In scientific terms, when the results of this study are in, UMC Utrecht will be at the forefront of genetic research into schizophrenia. The collaboration between the researchers at UMC Utrecht and UCLA is the foundation for this.”

The future

Although it remains to be seen what results will emerge from the study, it is clear these results will be useful. “Once we know which genes are involved in the development of schizophrenia, we can deal with the disease in a specific way and we will be able to better help patients.”
For the researchers, this is a very exciting time. The first provisional results are expected in 2008.