Project Summary

Neil M. Richtand, M.D., Ph.D. (Independent Investigator 2007) of the University of Cincinnati, seeks to identify intervention strategies that can safely halt symptom progression in the early stages of schizophrenia., with the long-term goal of identifying effective treatments for psychosis prevention. The specific objective of the proposed research is to determine the efficacy of correcting omega-3 fatty acid deficiency in first-episode schizophrenia patients. The overarching hypothesis is that such deficiency affects prefrontal cortical second- messenger signaling during the prodromal and initial stage of the illness, thereby facilitating an abnormal developmental response and contributing to illness progression. It is suggested that correcting omega-3 fatty acid levels will thereby improve outcome. The proposed study seeks to identify positive and negative symptom-treatment responses in omega-3 fatty acid deficient first-episode schizophrenia patients augmented with omega-3 fatty acid supplementation vs. placebo.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia\First-Episode Psychosis

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