Preliminary evidence for a link between schizophrenia and NMDA–glycine site receptor ligand metabolic enzymes, d-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) and kynurenine aminotransferase-1 (KAT-1)

Preliminary investigations, studying gene expression and biochemical activities of enzymes d-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) and kynurenine aminotransferase-1 (KAT-1), revealed elevated cerebellar KAT-1 and DAAO activities in post-mortem brain samples from schizophrenic versus normal individuals. In addition, we have identified a transcript of DAAO, which was expressed in significantly higher quantities in the diseased cerebellum but not detected in the parietal cortex where DAAO activity is absent.