National Institute for Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry

• Grant number: 17/17025-7
• Support Opportunities: Multi-user Equipment Program
• Duration: October 01, 2017 - September 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Convênio/Acordo: CNPq - INCTs
• Principal Investigator: Wagner Farid Gattaz
• Grantee: Wagner Farid Gattaz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psiquiatria Doutor Antonio Carlos Pacheco e Silva (IPq). Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (HCFMUSP). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50873-3 - INCT 2014: National Institute of Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, AP.TEM
• EMU web page: Página do Equipamento Multiusuário não informada
• Type of equipment: Caracterização e Análises de Amostras - Proteínas/Ácidos nuclêicos - PCR
• Manufacturer: Fabricante não informado
• Model: Modelo não informado

Abstract

The search for the biological substrate of neuropsychiatric diseases is a pre-requisite for the development of more efficient therapies and, most importantly, preventive strategies by means of early diagnosis. The experimental attempts to identify specific markers for the different diseases remain unsuccessful. At least partially, these negative results derive from a probable lack of specificity of global alterations of the brain biology for certain clinical conditions. In fact, the very clinical symptoms and manifestations are in themselves nonspecific for the different diseases. For instance, the cognitive deficits, which are characteristic of dementing conditions, are also observed in diseases such as schizophrenia and mood disorders. Depressive symptoms many times precede the onset of Alzheimer's disease, and common psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia are also observed in manic episodes and in dementia. In addition to sharing clinical manifestations, genetic studies show that a same genetic alteration may increase the risk for different diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism and depression; for instance, an excess of individuals presenting mood disorders in relatives of patients suffering from schizophrenia has been repeatedly been demonstrated. This can explain the lack of phenotypical specificity observed in the clinical presentation of separate neuropsychiatric disorders. One can, therefore, assume that a common genetic basis may be linked to common abnormalities of the brain structure and function in these diseases. These data compel to the adoption of experimental strategies that consider both the biological differences and the similarities among the different diagnoses. The rationale is that a genetic basis confers common vulnerability to disorders of brain maturation, plasticity, and function; the interactions between genetic and non-genetic factors would then determine the pathoplasty and the differences in the clinical manifestations. The purpose of this project is to analyze common etiological aspects and differential markers among Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Alzheimer's Disease. These diseases together affect 14 million people in Brazil and 400 millions of individuals in the world. In addition to the human suffering, these diseases together generate an approximate yearly cost of 300 billion dollars just for the economy of the United States. A unique aspect of this project is its multidisciplinarity. A nuclear group of patients of the 3 diagnosis categories shall be simultaneously studied in 6 dimensions: - neurochemistry – neuroimaging – neuromodulation - neurocognition & psychopathology – genomics - proteomics (AU)