Figure 2.

Top five fatty acid (FA) metabolic abnormalities in the affective disorder frontopolar cortex (FPC). (a) 22:5n-3. As the myelin factors (MFs) (myelin proportions in the cortical homogenates) increased, 22:5n-3 accumulated in the affective disorder (bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD)), but not in the schizophrenia (Sch) FPC samples. (b) 18:3n-6. Similar accumulation of 18:3n-6 was observed only in the affective disorder FPC samples. Arrows indicate data from subjects with MDD who had not been prescribed antidepressant medications at around the time of death (see Supplementary Table 1), suggesting that such medications may not affect these findings. (c) 18:1n-9. Myelin-abundant FA, 18:1n-9, was significantly reduced only in the affective disorder FPC samples, particularly those having more myelin. (c′) Conventional comparison of 18:1n-9 concentrations. Note that, without MFs, we were deprived of information regarding the relationship between myelin and FA concentration. Furthermore, a statistically significant difference was only found between Sch and BD (P=0.03). (d) The 18:1n-9/18:0 ratios. (e). The 20:0/18:0 ratios. These two ratios were decreased in the mood disorder FPC samples, especially those having more myelin. (f) Summary of the FA metabolic abnormalities in the affective disorder FPC samples. Top five abnormalities found in this study are shown in red. Other significant, but less specific FAs, as well as their corresponding metabolic abnormalities, were also found in the affective disorder FPC samples (colored pink, see Supplementary Tables 4 and 5). Arrows indicate desaturase activities, downward arrowheads elongase activities, and an upward arrowhead β-oxidation. Several FA concentrations or their metabolic activities were undetectable in this study, and are therefore parenthesized. PUFAs, polyunsaturated FAs.