Schizophrenia: Complement Cleaning or Killing.

ABSTRACT: Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder with a typical onset occurring during adolescence or young adulthood. The heterogeneity of the disorder complicates our understanding of the pathophysiology. Reduced cortical synaptic densities are commonly observed in schizophrenia and suggest a role for excessive synaptic elimination. A major pathway hypothesised to eliminate synapses during postnatal development is the complement system. This review provides an overview of genetic and functional evidence found for the individual players of the classical complement pathway. In addition, the consequences of the absence of complement proteins, in the form of complement protein deficiencies in humans, are taken into consideration. The collective data provide strong evidence for excessive pruning by th

SUBMITTER: Hogenaar JTT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7916832 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature