Introduction: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is currently regarded as a significant treatment option for intractable psychiatric disorders, such as catatonic schizophrenia or treatment-resistant depression; however, the underlying molecular mechanism for its therapeutic effect remains obscure.
Methods: Employing microarray analysis (Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array; Affymetrix, United States) of cDNA derived from the peripheral blood of patients with catatonic schizophrenia (n = 5), we detected a significant change in 145 genes (0.68%) before and after modified ECT (mECT). Moreover, we performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction validation of genes that had previously been suggested to be functionally related to schizophrenia.
Results: Of 4 genes examined (AKT3, TCF7, PPP3R1, and GADD45B), only TCF7 was increased during the mECT procedure (P = 0.0025).
Discussion: This study describes the first attempt to uncover the molecular mechanism of mECT using a microarray assay of mRNA derived from peripheral blood, and our results suggest that the TCF family may play a role in the functional mechanism of mECT.