Newton001: Biomarkers of treatment naive psychosis.

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The First Episode of Psychosis is perhaps the most important stage of schizophrenia, unless effective treatment is established during this phase many patients develop an unfavourable clinical outcome. If we can understand the biological markers associated with FEP and subsequent response to treatment, we maybe able to develop ways of predicting which treatment patients will respond best to. However, to understand this we need to examine samples from patients before they undergo drug treatment, as otherwise it is unclear what changes are due to the disorder/episode and what are due to the prescribed medication. We have collected blood samples (RNA, DNA and serum) from psychosis patients who are treatment naïve (before they received drug treatment for the disorder), and who have been followed for 8 weeks (N=80) and one year (N=30) after drug treatment. This group of patients is unique and being able to study biomarkers unaffected by the drugs given as treatments may allow us greater understanding of the causes and potential underlying risks for psychosis.