Are Paranoid Schizophrenics Biologically Different from Other Schizophrenics?

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Abstract
Two studies were undertaken to verify the presence of lowered platelet monoamine oxidase activity in chronic schizophrenia. In the first study, a retrospective chart analysis, the mean platelet activity of patients with chronic schizophrenia (7.73±0.64 nmol of benzylaldehyde product per 108 platelets per hour [S.E.M.]) differed significantly from that of normal controls (12.13±0.2, P<0.001). Chronic paranoid schizophrenics (4.81 ±0.46) differed significantly from chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics (8.6±0.75, P<0.03). A separate prospective study confirmed significantly lower values for monoamine oxidase activity in chronic schizophrenic patients diagnosed as paranoid (5.97±1.17) or as having secondary paranoid features (6.28±0.71) as compared to chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics (9.81 ±0.87, P<0.001). Chronic paranoid schizophrenia may be a separate disorder from the other chronic forms of schizophrenia, and this difference may be related, at least in part, to biochemical characteristics. (N Engl J Med 298:61–66, 1978)