Summary of Groundbreaking Study Shifts the Schizophrenia Narrative:
New research by the Lieber Institute for Brain Development challenges the century-old assumption that genes linked to schizophrenia are primarily related to the brain. The study indicates that over 100 placenta-associated genes play a significant role in the risk of schizophrenia. The researchers found that these genes negatively affect the placenta’s ability to sense and exchange nutrients with the mother’s bloodstream. The study also identified several genes in the placenta that are causative factors for other disorders, including diabetes, bipolar disorder, depression, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The researchers hope that targeting placenta biology may lead to new treatment and diagnostic tools, revolutionizing the field of prenatal medicine.
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New Study Suggests Placenta Plays a Role in Schizophrenia Risk
Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder that affects thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The illness typically emerges in late adolescence or early adulthood and can cause hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, and social withdrawal. To date, the causes of schizophrenia have remained largely unknown. However, a new study conducted by the Lieber Institute for Brain Development sheds light on a previously overlooked factor that contributes to the disorder’s origin—the placenta.
The commonly shared view on the causes of schizophrenia is that genetic and environmental risk factors play a role directly and only in the brain. Still, these latest results show that placenta health is also critical. The research, published in Nature Communications, challenges the century-old assumption that genes associated with schizophrenia were primarily related to the brain. Instead, the study’s findings suggest that over 100 placenta-associated genes contribute to schizophrenia risk.
Placenta Health and Schizophrenia Risk
The study found that schizophrenia genes influence the placenta’s critical function in sensing and exchanging nutrients in the mother’s bloodstream, including oxygen. The risk genes for schizophrenia are more lowly expressed in the cells of the placenta that form the core of this maternal-fetal nutrient exchange, called trophoblasts. As a result, this negatively affects the placenta’s role in nurturing the developing fetus.
Further, the study shows that the risk genes for schizophrenia found in the placenta may have a more significant effect on the likelihood of illness inherited from ancestors than risk genes found in the brain. The researchers also discovered that different genes were associated with schizophrenia risk based on whether the placenta came from a male or female child.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Schizophrenia Risk
The research also examines the implication of mothers contracting COVID-19 during pregnancy on their child’s risk of developing schizophrenia later in life. The study focused on a small sample of placentas from mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy and found that the schizophrenia genes related to placenta risk were dramatically activated in these placentas.
The research team suggests that prenatal monitoring and early interventions may help detect changes in placental risk genes. This knowledge may help to prevent complications later in life and increase early diagnoses.
Future Prevention Strategies
The secret of the genetics of schizophrenia has been hiding in plain sight—the placenta, the critical organ in supporting prenatal development, launches the developmental trajectory of risk. The researchers hope that their ongoing study of the genes of the placenta will one day lead to new treatment and diagnostic tools, ultimately revolutionizing the field of prenatal medicine. The study results indicate that targeting placenta biology is an integral new potential approach to prevention, which is the holy grail of public health. If doctors knew which children were most at risk of developmental disorders, they could implement early interventions to keep them healthy.
Conclusion
Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness, and the causes have remained largely unknown. The Lieber Institute for Brain Development’s study sheds new light on the role of the placenta in the disorder’s origin. The findings suggest that over 100 placenta-associated genes contribute to schizophrenia risk. Targeting placenta biology may be a crucial new potential approach to prevention. If doctors know which children are most at risk of developmental disorders, they could implement early interventions to keep them healthy.
