by Elana Gotkine

Disruptions in amino acid and lipid metabolism may be biomarkers of tardive dyskinesia (TD), according to a study published online in Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Chenghao Lu, from the Mental Health Center of Tianjin Medical University in China, and colleagues explored biomarkers of TD through untargeted metabolomics for the early identification of TD in a study involving 84 patients with schizophrenia (SZ) with TD and 160 patients with SZ without TD. Fasting blood samples were collected from all patients; 699 metabolites were quantified and profiled.

The researchers found that 57 metabolites exhibited significant changes in TD, mainly involving amino acids and lipids. These changes mostly affected the phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan pathway and the phenylalanine metabolism pathway.

Negative relations to the total abnormal involuntary movement scale score were seen for N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine and succinylcarnitine. Five differential metabolites had area under the curve (AUC) values greater than 0.7 for diagnosing TD, with a combined AUC of 0.817.

“These findings provide possible biomarkers for the diagnosis of TD, facilitating early recognition of TD,” the authors write. “However, these preliminary results require validation in larger sample sizes and longitudinal studies.”

More information: Chenghao Lu et al, Plasma Metabolic Characteristics and Potential Biomarker Combinations in Schizophrenia Patients With Tardive Dyskinesia, Schizophrenia Bulletin (2025). DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbaf006

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