Could a broccoli sprout extract help treat schizophrenia?

The current schizophrenia treatments rely on antipsychotic drugs that come with unwanted side effects. However, new research has found that a chemical called sulforaphane could reduce and even prevent symptoms of the condition.

Many people with schizophrenia experience hallucinations and delusions that can significantly impact their everyday life.

However, those with the condition may find it hard to seek treatment.

In fact, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), schizophrenia affects more than 21 million people worldwide, but more than half of these people do not receive proper care.

Drugs are a common form of treatment, but they do not work for everyone with the condition. They also come with a long list of side effects, ranging from cardiovascular issues to what is commonly called "the shakes."

Researchers at the John Hopkins Schizophrenia Center in Baltimore, MD, believe that a chemical imbalance in the brain may be responsible for schizophrenia, and they used a supplement extracted from broccoli sprouts to alter it.

They have recently published a number of studies that examine this imbalance.

Differences in the brain

The first stage of their analysis, the findings of which appear in JAMA Psychiatry, involved studying brain differences between people with schizophrenia and people without it.

In total, they examined 81 people with schizophrenia from the John Hopkins Schizophrenia Center, as well as 91 people who did not have schizophrenia. Those in the former group had had their first psychosis episode within the past 2 years.

The researchers used a magnet to measure five brain regions, and they extracted magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data. These procedures showed the levels of various chemicals in the brain.

On average, people with schizophrenia had 4% less of the chemical glutamate in the anterior cingulate cortex region. Glutamate is responsible for transmitting signals between nerve cells.

A theory has existed since the 1980s that glutamate plays a role in the onset of schizophrenia; since then, researchers have found scientific evidence confirming such a link.

Glutamate is also present in the chemical glutathione. In the recent research, the scientists found that people with schizophrenia had lower levels of glutathione in a brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex and in the brain's thalamus.

Specifically, people with schizophrenia had 3% less glutathione in the anterior cingulate cortex and 8% less glutathione in the thalamus.

Source: Medical News Today