Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that causes the patient to not only act erratically, but to have a fundamentally disconnected sense of reality in severe cases of psychotic episodes. Psychosis is a state in which the patient can no longer differentiate reality from hallucination. The condition is progressive and affects around 21 million worldwide. Unfortunately, the current treatment options all come with potentially severe side effects. As a result, scientists have been seeking alternatives with less severe side effects.
During episodes of psychosis, the brains of schizophrenic patients experience a shortage of the neurotransmitter glutamate, a chemical that enables signals to be transferred between neurons. A deficit of the chemical glutathione has also been previously found in the imaged brains of schizophrenic patients. Since glutamate is a key ingredient in the production of glutathione, it has been believed that glutathione acts as a storage of glutamate, functionally similar to the storage of excess fat in cells until the body needs the extra energy.
With this in mind, the researchers pondered whether increasing levels of glutathione in the body would create a larger and more stable reserve of glutamate for the brain to draw upon during shortages. Following this line of thinking, the team decided to test use of a chemical found in broccoli sprouts, known as sulforaphane, that allows more glutamate to be stored as glutathione. Ingestion of the sulforaphane resulted in a 30% average increase in storage in 9 healthy volunteers over the course of a week, with negligible symptoms. Despite the small sample size, the results offer another potential avenue of research for alleviating the chemical shortages that have been linked to schizophrenia. The team plans to continue research on sulforaphane's direct effects on psychosis in schizophrenic patients.
