Schizophrenia is a debilitating disease that can make navigating daily life a massive challenge. Black people who suffer from depression are more likely to be misdiagnosed with Schizophrenia. However, a new blood test could flag Schizophrenia in its early stages and prevent Black people from getting misdiagnosed, researchers say.
Their analysis of blood samples identified epigenetic markers — part of your DNA — that differ between people with schizophrenia and those without the mental health disorder.
The researchers developed a model to assess a person’s risk for schizophrenia, and testing on an independent dataset showed that the model can identify schizophrenia patients with 80 percent accuracy.
“Schizophrenia is a devastating disease that affects about one percent of the world’s population,” corresponding author Dr. Robert Waterland says. “Although genetic and environmental components seem to be involved in the condition, current evidence only explains a small portion of cases, suggesting that other factors, such as epigenetic, also could be important.”
READ: Life After Diagnosis: Moving Forward After a Schizophrenia Diagnosis
In order to find epigenetic markers for schizophrenia, the researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to look for DNA methylation patterns in specific regions of the human genome called CoRSIVs.
DNA methylation is a common epigenetic marker.
A number of previous studies have analyzed methylation profiles in blood samples in an attempt to identify
epigenetic markers of schizophrenia, the researchers note.
“Our study is innovative in various ways,” study first author and a computer scientist in the Waterland lab Chathura Gunasekara, says.
“We focused on CoRSIVs and also applied for the first time the… machine-learning algorithm to analyze DNA methylation. As a scientist interested in applying machine learning to medicine, our findings are very exciting,” Gunasekara explains. “They not only suggest the possibility of predicting risk of schizophrenia early in life, but also outline a new approach that may be applicable to other diseases.”
The study was also unique in that it accounted for major factors that can affect methylation patterns in blood, such as smoking and taking antipsychotic medications.
Both are common in schizophrenia patients.
The finding “indicates that the epigenetic differences we identified between schizophrenia patients and healthy individuals were there before the disease was diagnosed, suggesting they may contribute to the condition,” Waterland adds.
READ: How to Help a Partner With Schizophrenia
People with schizophrenia often lack awareness that they may have a mental disorder that requires medical attention so it is important that those around them recognize the symptoms of schizophrenia and encourage them to get help if they are exhibiting an alarming change in behavior.
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