Abstract

Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric disorder leading to cognitive impairment and has higher rates of morbidity and mortality. There is a need to understand the mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of the disease as the clinical presentation may vary in patients and inadequate knowledge of neurochemical alterations can lead to decreased efficacy in treatment which makes it necessary to identify new potent biomarkers. Identification of biomarkers in schizophrenia offers significant benefits to the well-being of patients, including better prognosis, diagnosis, detection, screening, enhancement in treatment efficacy, prevention of relapse, and better clinical results. Incorporation of advanced technological techniques is necessary to provide an approach for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders and to permit specific therapeutic interventions. This review highlights the particulars about the current use and application of various biomarkers such as proteomics, miRNAs, language techniques, antibodies, blood biomarkers, gut microbiota, such as analysis, neuroimaging techniques, and inflammatory biomarkers in effective prognosis, detection, and treatment of schizophrenia and which would contribute as an additional tool for a psychiatrist in cases where an appropriate diagnosis is lacking clarity.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, Biomarkers, Gut microbiota, Theranostics, Neuroimaging, Psychiatric disorders.

Graphical Abstract