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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Jul 26, 2025; 17(7): 106194
Published online Jul 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i7.106194
Published online Jul 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i7.106194
Childhood insulin resistance and neural stem cell dysfunction in psychiatric disorders: Role of de novo lipogenesis and treatment perspectives
Mohammad M Khan, Laboratory of Translational Neurology and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Biotechnology, Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, and Faculty of Science, Era University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Mohammad M Khan, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSI University, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Zaw Ali Khan, Mohsin Ali Khan, Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Era University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Gauri Pandey, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Era University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Author contributions: Khan MM conceptualized the idea and wrote the manuscript; Khan ZA and Khan MA reviewed the manuscript and provided the resources; Pandey G helped with the literature search and figure design.
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: Mohammad M Khan, PhD, Professor, Laboratory of Translational Neurology and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Biotechnology, Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, and Faculty of Science, Era University, Sarfarazganj, Hardoi Road, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India. mmkhan0@gmail.com
Received: February 19, 2025
Revised: April 20, 2025
Accepted: June 25, 2025
Published online: July 26, 2025
Processing time: 156 Days and 2.1 Hours
Revised: April 20, 2025
Accepted: June 25, 2025
Published online: July 26, 2025
Processing time: 156 Days and 2.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Childhood insulin resistance (IR) is a potential risk factor for developing psychiatric disorders (PDs). Although insulin regulates neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation and function, IR is associated with impaired NSC proliferation and cognitive dysfunction, which are prominent features of PDs. While the mechanisms underlying IR and NSC dysfunction in PDs remain unclear, intracellular lipids/fatty acids synthesized via de novo lipogenesis could be the primary mediators. Since psychotropic drugs further deteriorate IR and stimulate de novo lipogenesis, prospects of various adjunctive therapies, especially stem cell therapy, in treating IR in schizophrenia and depression are discussed.