Bai YL, Ma SF, Qi DD, Guo C, Liu P, He KJ. Cell-free DNA in extracellular vesicles: A candidate biomarker of schizophrenia. World J Psychiatry 2025; 15(8): 107404 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i8.107404]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kuan-Jun He, PhD, Professor, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Inner Mongolia Minzu University, No. 996 Xilamulun Street, Tongliao 028000, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. hekuanjun@imun.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Yu-Long Bai, Chuang Guo, Kuan-Jun He, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Inner Mongolia Minzu University, Tongliao 028000, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Shi-Fa Ma, Dong-Dong Qi, Peng Liu, Basic and Clinical Laboratory of Mental Disorders, The Third People’s Hospital of Hulunbuir, The Mental Health Center of Hulunbuir City, Hulunbuir 022150, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
Co-first authors: Yu-Long Bai and Shi-Fa Ma.
Co-corresponding authors: Dong-Dong Qi and Kuan-Jun He.
Author contributions: Bai YL and Ma SF authored the initial draft and made equal contributions as co-first authors; Guo C and Liu P refined the initial version of the work; Qi DD and He KJ designed this review and made equal contributions as co-corresponding authors; all authors reviewed, edited, and approved the final version of the manuscript to publish.
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, No. 2024LHMS08003; Science and Technology Program of the Joint Fund of Scientific Research for the Public Hospitals of Inner Mongolia Academy of Medical Sciences, No. 2024GLLH0844.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kuan-Jun He, PhD, Professor, College of Life Sciences and Food Engineering, Inner Mongolia Minzu University, No. 996 Xilamulun Street, Tongliao 028000, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. hekuanjun@imun.edu.cn
Received: March 24, 2025 Revised: April 19, 2025 Accepted: June 20, 2025 Published online: August 19, 2025 Processing time: 138 Days and 17.7 Hours
Abstract
Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a severe mental disorder with significant impacts on individuals, families, and society. Previous research has indicated that SCZ patients will commonly face substantial impairments in mitochondrial function and oxidative phosphorylation in the brain. Cell-free DNA (cf-DNA), serving as a direct biomarker of apoptosis, offers a valuable vantage point to understand the complex cellular mechanisms underlying SCZ. This review is to explore the role of cf-DNA in the etiology and progression of SCZ and evaluate the potential of cf-DNA within extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a diagnostic biomarker. A review approach was employed to gather and analyze relevant literature on the role of cf-DNA in SCZ, especially focusing on the potential of cf-DNA within EVs as a diagnostic biomarker. This review found that cf-DNA within EVs holds the potential to improve diagnostic methods. It can offer more accurate and sensitive means for detecting SCZ. Moreover, it has the ability to optimize disease management strategies by providing information about the disease state. Also, it can promote the development of pharmacological treatments for SCZ. Integrating cf-DNA analysis into clinical practice can help clinicians utilize cf-DNA levels and its unique characteristics for early and accurate diagnosis. The analysis of cf-DNA, particularly cf-DNA within EVs, has significant potential in the context of SCZ. It can transform our understanding of the disorder, improve diagnostic approaches, optimize disease management, and foster the development of pharmacological treatments.
Core Tip: Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a severe mental disorder characterized by multi-dimensional dysfunction in perception, cognition, emotion, and behavior. Recent research has highlighted the critical role of cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) carried by extracellular vesicles in SCZ. Abnormal expression of cf-DNA may be potentially linked to the pathological progression of SCZ. This review provides the molecular regulatory mechanisms of extracellular vesicle-derived cf-DNA in the pathogenesis and progression of SCZ, emphasizing its potential as a novel diagnostic marker and its promising clinical applications, thereby offering a new avenue for exploring the biological underpinnings of the disease and developing objective diagnostic tools.
