Schizophrenia is a chronic illness characterized by disturbances in cognition, affect and behavior, all of which have a bizarre aspect. It is a common disorder, with a prevalence of about 1%. It has an equal prevalence in both sexes although men manifest their symptoms earlier than women. \[1, 2\] Individuals with schizophrenia have a 2-3 fold increase in mortality rate compared to the general population. This rate had increased in recent decades. \[3, 4\] Most patients are incapable of maintaining their jobs and relationships. About half attempt suicide, and about 10% succeed. Most suicides occur early in the course of the illness. \[1\] Optimal management of schizophrenia requires psychological, social, and occupational therapies. \[2\] There are a lot of antipsychotic drugs which are necessary for treatment. Risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of schizophrenia in the adolescent population in the adolescent population. \[5\] Although atypical antipsychotic agents have improved outcomes in schizophrenia, their clinical potential remains limited by patients' nonadherence to medication. \[6\] Some of the patients with schizophrenia do not respond completely to treatment and only experience a partial improvement and remain functionally impaired. While medication has been found to be effective for the treatment of "positive" symptoms of the disease, treatment of the "negative symptoms" of schizophrenia (including lack of energy, motivation, and emotions) has historically not been very successful. \[4, 5\] MS14 is an Iranian herbal-marine compound that has been patented by invention and patent registration office of Islamic Republic of Iran (no: 29350) and classified as equivalent to food with no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL). \[8, 9\] According to analytic data this compound contains many inorganic salts or complexes and also trace elements such as bromine (Br), strontium (Sr), vanadium (V), titanium (Ti), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn). \[10\] Safety of MS14 has been confirmed by sub-acute toxicity studies in rats (clinical, histopathological, hematological and biochemical). \[8\] A study of MS14 in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) model has shown that oral treatment of the EAE mice with MS14 not only halts the progression of the disease but also attenuates the inflammation in CNS indicating that this herbal-marine compound has anti-inflammatory effects \[11\].
Overall, alleviation of clinical and neurological symptoms in EAE mice by MS14 explained the beneficial effects of traditionally used MS14 in MS patients, an effect which could also be investigated in other groups of psychological and neurological diseases. Additionally, there are anecdotal but unconfirmed reports for the effectiveness of MS14 in patients with schizophrenia. In this regard, we have decided to perform a randomized placebo-controlled study on the effect of MS14 on schizophrenia, to assess the safety and efficacy of this compound.
