Abstract
Introduction: Statins such as simvastatin are recently introduced as agents that may have beneficial effects in schizophrenia regarding their prominent anti-inflammatory properties. Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the effects of simvastatin on schizophrenia symptoms. Patients and Methods: In a double-blinded randomized clinical trial, 40 hospitalized schizophrenia patients (according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria) were studied for 6 weeks. One group of the patients (n=20) received simvastatin (with the dose of 40 mg/d) and the other group received (n=20) placebo. The patients were evaluated by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia symptoms. Data were analyzed with mixed model repeated measure ANOVA, t test, and χ2 test or Fischer’s exact test by SPSS software. The significant cutoff was considered at P<0.05. Results: The mean age of the patients was 34.05±9.74 years and 50% of them were men. There was not a significant difference between the two groups regarding negative symptoms reduction. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that adding simvastatin on atypical antipsychotic treatment had no significant beneficial effects on the negative and positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia disorder. Trial Registration: The trial protocol was approved by the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (identifier: IRCT2017052034046N1; https://en.irct.ir/trial/26134, ethical code; ETH-457).
Highlights
Statins such as simvastatin are recently introduced as agents that may have beneficial effects in schizophrenia regarding their prominent anti-inflammatory properties
We found out that including simvastatin in treatment of schizophrenic patients during six weeks did not have a significant effect on reducing the negative symptoms of the patients
Several studies have been conducted regarding the role of anti-inflammatory agents in improving negative symptoms of schizophrenia; the statin agents have been tested in just a few trials despite their clear antiinflammatory effects
Summary
Statins such as simvastatin are recently introduced as agents that may have beneficial effects in schizophrenia regarding their prominent anti-inflammatory properties. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that adding simvastatin on atypical antipsychotic treatment had no significant beneficial effects on the negative and positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia disorder. Schizophrenia disorder is a clinical syndrome including alternating psychological vulnerability, and is so destructive that involves cognition, excitement, perception, and other spiritual aspects Occurrence of these manifestations changes in different people during the time, but the disease effects are always severe and lasts long [1]. The main treatment for schizophrenia patients is anti-psychotic drugs (first and second generation) These agents have a remarkable effect on positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, their impact on negative symptoms (as the best predictors for disease prognosis and social function) is limited. These deficiencies in our current knowledge have urged a need for extensive researches to discover new agents to help fight against
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