Accumulation of diacylgylcerol in platelet phosphoinositide turnover in schizophrenia: a biological marker of good prognosis?

Phosphoinositide (PI) turnover was examined by measuring phosphatidic acid (PA) and diacylglycerol (DG) production following thrombin stimulation in platelet membranes from 20 schizophrenic patients, 10 patients with other mental disorders, and 9 normal controls. In 6 of 13 acute schizophrenic patients, DG was not transformed into phosphatidic acid (PA), but accumulated in the platelets instead. The abnormal findings persisted for at least 2 months, but then reversed over a long period. Three years later, the patients with abnormal PI turnover had a significantly better outcome than other acute schizophrenic patients.