Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:725-728
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
S-adenosylmethionine-dependent N-methyltransferase activity in autopsied brain parts of chronic schizophrenics and controls
E Erdelyi, GR Elliott, RJ Wyatt and JD Barchas
The transmethylation hypothesis of schizophrenia proposes that the disease
results from excessive accumulation of methylated derivatives of biogenic
amines. To test the hypothesis that an abnormality in S-
adenosylmethionine-dependent N-methyltransferase (SAM enzyme) might play a
role in schizophrenia, the authors compared SAM enzyme activity of in vitro
preparations of 6 brain regions obtained at autopsy from chronic
schizophrenics and nonschizophrenic controls. An analysis of variance
demonstrated statistically significant differences among brain regions but
not between schizophrenics and controls.
