Epigenetic Mechanisms in Schizophrenia

2 Epigenetic Mechanisms in Schizophrenia Background Psychiatric disorders are potentially destabilizing conditions that affect a large number of people. These disorders are typified by symptoms that negatively impact the capacity of an individual to engage in daily life activities. The primary treatment intervention for these disorders is the administration of antipsychotics. Antipsychotic interventions, however, achieve incomplete responses to treatment among many patients. The development of a rational drug has been a major challenge due to the lack of comprehensive unifying information concerning the molecular etiology of this disease. The complex genetic architecture of schizophrenia is also an impediment to the development of an effective pharmacological intervention.

A comprehensive review of literature can help to advance knowledge on the pathophysiology of schizophrenia together with the underlying genetic risk architecture, thus paving way for the development of novel treatment interventions (Akbarian, 2014).

Epidemiological studies propose that the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is triggered by an interaction between individual genes and environmental factors (Roth, Lubin, Sodhi & Kleinman, 2009). Research further suggests that the molecular mechanisms that mediate the interactions between these factors play are integral to the onset of schizophrenia. Recent studies also report that epigenetic mechanisms remain labile throughout the lifespan of a cell. These mechanisms are however subject to a range of environmental factors. This indicates that epigenetic mechanisms provide an attractive molecular hypothesis for the role played by environmental factors in the development of schizophrenia.

Disease Description