An object of the present invention is. to provide an
objective method for
diagnosis of schizophrenia using
gene expression in mononuclear cells of
peripheral blood as an index, and this invention provide a method for diagnosing whether a
test subject suffers from
schizophrenia or not. The method according to this invention is a method for diagnosing whether a
test subject suffers from
schizophrenia or not, the method comprising the steps of; obtaining mononuclear cells in blood containing
nucleic acid from said subject, measuring the content of at least one
nucleic acid selected from the group consisting of
nucleic acid(s) (containing its fragment and a nucleic acid complementary to the nucleic acid) defining
gene(s) exhibiting altered expression by occurrence of
schizophrenia or nucleic acid(s) (containing its fragment and a nucleic acid complementary to the nucleic acid) defining
gene(s) exhibiting altered expression by progression of schizophrenia in said mononuclear cells, and determining alteration of the quantified level(s) of the gene(s) in said
test subject is statistically significant in comparison with the quantified level(s) of said nucleic acid(s) defining gene(s) exhibiting altered expression by occurrence of schizophrenia or said nucleic acid(s) defining gene(s) exhibiting altered expression by progression of schizophrenia in
healthy subjects or schizophrenic patients, thereby diagnosing whether said subject is suffering from schizophrenia or not.