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Aim: Among different types of poly unsaturated fatty acids, omega‐3 fatty acids (FA) play a substantial role in brain development and functioning. This review was designed to evaluate and synthesize available evidence regarding omega‐3 FAs and functional outcome in the ultra‐high‐risk (UHR) population. Methods: An electronic search in PubMed, EMBASE, PSYCINFO and COCHRANE search engines has been performed for all articles published until January 2019. The studies that have data regarding omega‐3 FAs and functional outcome in UHR population were included. Results: Out of 397 nonduplicate citations, 19 articles met selection criteria. These articles were from four different primary studies, namely the Program of Rehabilitation and Therapy (PORT), the North American Prodromal Longitudinal Studies (NAPLS), Vienna High Risk study (VHR) and the NEURAPRO. The data from the NAPLS study found a positive correlation between functional improvement and frequency of dietary intake omega‐3 FA. Moreover, among the erythrocyte omega‐3 FA only eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) showed a positive correlation with functional score. The VHR study found long‐term improvement in functional outcome in omega‐3 group compared to control, whereas such difference was noticed in the NEURAPRO. In the VHR study both omega‐3 and omega‐6 together predicted the functional improvement at 12 weeks. Conclusions: The number of studies available remains insufficient and more studies with standardized outcome measures in a clinically comparable UHR population would be of more value to understand the clinical benefits of omega‐3 FA in the UHR population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction:Recent evidence supports an association between systemic abnormalities and the pathology of psychotic disorders which has led to the search for peripheral blood-based biomarkers. Areas covered:Here, we summarize blood biomarker findings in schizophrenia from the literature identified by two methods currently driving biomarker discovery in the human proteome; mass spectrometry and multiplex immunoassay. From a total of 14 studies in the serum or plasma of drug-free schizophrenia patients; 47 proteins were found to be significantly altered twice or more, in the same direction. Pathway analysis was performed on these proteins, and the resulting pathways discussed in relation to schizophrenia pathology. Future directions are also discussed, with particular emphasis on the potential for high-throughput validation techniques such as data-independent analysis for confirmation of biomarker candidates. Expert commentary:We present promising findings that point to a convergence of pathophysiological mechanisms in schizophrenia that involve the acute-phase response, glucocorticoid receptor signalling, coagulation, and lipid and glucose metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Cannabis use in adolescence is a known risk factor for developing schizophrenia. Decline in intellectual functioning is a well-studied phenomenon of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia in its first classification was conceptualized as a dementia - ‘Dementia Praecox’ indicating a dominance of effect of cognitive symptoms on functioning at that time. First episode psychosis patients with histories of cannabis use compared to those without cannabis use have superior cognitive functioning suggesting different disease phenotypes. Our aim was to investigate whether cannabis had an effect on full scale IQ in general population samples to further inform understanding of this disease pathway. Methods: We developed a search strategy through an iterative approach with a qualified information specialist. We searched three databases: Medline, Embase and PsychInfo. We included conference abstracts and full text publications in English. We contacted authors for additional information in cases where an effect size was not calculable. We included longitudinal studies of non-help-seeking young people in the community with a pre-drug exposure standardized measure of IQ prior to the age of 18 and a comparable measure at subsequent follow up. We defined the case group as individuals with a history of heavy cannabis use (more than 25 lifetime uses, at least weekly use for 6 months and/or meeting criteria for a cannabis use disorder) and the control group as similar young people who had no or very minimal experimental exposure to cannabis (<5 lifetime uses). Two reviewers independently extracted the data and assessed for bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa risk of bias tool. We performed random effects metaanalysis in Stata version 14 given expected heterogeneity in measurement of cannabis use across studies. Results: We identified 7 cohort studies detailed in 6 reports including over 650 subjects and 5600 controls. Study designs included twin cohorts, representative cluster sampled community cohorts and birth cohort studies. Range of follow up was between 2 and 23 years. All studies showed relative decline in IQ of which two were statistically significant. Our findings show that cannabis use in youth is associated with modest IQ differences that equate to approximately to a 2-point decrease in young cannabis users. Studies examining twin pairs showed that twins discordant for cannabis use did not have divergent cognitive trajectories, however these analyses were relatively underpowered to find an effect. Discussion: Our findings demonstrate the harmful effects of cannabis use on brain development in young people. These findings are of public health importance and provide further evidence for the detrimental effects of early cannabis use on mental health and cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]