Clinical Symptoms Of Schizophrenia Research Articles

Compensatory thickening of cortical thickness in early stage of schizophrenia.

Brain structural abnormality has been observed in the prodromal and early stages of schizophrenia, but the mechanism behind it is not clear. In this study, to explore the association between cortical abnormalities, metabolite levels, inflammation levels and clinical symptoms of schizophrenia, 51 drug-naive first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients, 51 ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR), and 51 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. We estimated gray matter volume (GMV), cortical thickness (CT), concentrations of different metabolites, and inflammatory marks among four groups (UHR converted to psychosis [UHR-C], UHR unconverted to psychosis [UHR-NC], FES, HC). UHR-C group had more CT in the right lateral occipital cortex and the right medial orbito-frontal cortex (rMOF), while a significant reduction in CT of the right fusiform cortex was observed in FES group. UHR-C group had significantly higher concentration of IL-6, while IL-17 could significantly predict CT of the right fusiform and IL-4 and IL-17 were significant predictors of CT in the rMOF. To conclude, it is reasonable to speculate that the increased CT in UHR-C group is related to the inflammatory response, and may participate in some compensatory mechanism, but might become exhaustive with the progress of the disease due to potential neurotoxic effects.

Acculturation and clinical symptoms of schizophrenia among Latine adults in the United States

BackgroundResearch on acculturation and schizophrenia spectrum disorders has yielded inconsistent findings. This study aimed to clarify the influence of acculturation on symptomatology in Latine individuals with schizophrenia in the United States. MethodsThe analysis involved cross-sectional data from Latine (n = 120) and non-Latine White (n = 60) adults with schizophrenia in San Diego, California. Participants completed the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH), Positive and Negative Symptom Scale, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale in their preferred language. Univariate linear regressions were implemented to identify proxy measures as predictors of acculturation scores. Analyses of variance were conducted to analyze the relationship of SASH scores and proxy measures of acculturation to symptom severity. ResultsLatine participants presented more symptom severity than non-Latine Whites. When categorized by acculturation status (Spanish-preferring, bicultural, and English-preferring), Spanish-preferring participants presented similar psychiatric symptoms to the non-Latine group and less severe symptoms than both other Latine groups. Analyses identified study language as the strongest proxy measure for the SASH. Latine participants assessed in English had significantly worse positive and depressive symptoms than those assessed in Spanish. Nativity status moderated the relationship between study language and symptomatology. ConclusionsFindings support an association between acculturation and symptom severity among Latine individuals with schizophrenia. The use of proxy measures of acculturation may be useful in settings where time is constrained. Future research should continue to explore acculturation and symptomatology in Latine communities.

Relationship between blood-based inflammatory indices and clinical score of schizophrenia patients: A cross-sectional study

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that may involve inflammation. Inflammatory indices, such as the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR), the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and the systemic inflammation index (SII), are simple and inexpensive measures of inflammation that have been associated with various diseases. However, few studies have compared these indices and their relationships with clinical symptoms in schizophrenia. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 121 schizophrenia patients (101 males, 20 females). We measured the blood-based inflammatory indices (NLR, MLR, PLR, and SII) and assessed the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Statistical analyses were performed to examine the correlations and effects of the inflammatory indices on PANSS scores. We found that NLR, MLR, PLR, and SII were positively correlated with PANSS total score, PANSS positive score, PANSS negative score, and general psychopathology score (adjusted P < 0.02 for all correlations). Subgroup analysis showed that correlations between inflammatory indices and the clinical scores differed by gender. In males, all inflammatory indices were positively correlated with all clinical scores. On the other hand, in females, only NLR and SII were positively correlated with all clinical scores. After adjusting for confounders, we also found that NLR was a predictor of PANSS total score (β = 23, adjusted P < 0.02), PANSS positive score (β = 2.6, adjusted P = 0.03), PANSS negative score (β = 6.8, adjusted P < 0.02), and PANSS general psychopathology score (β = 13.6, adjusted P < 0.02), while SII was only a predictor for PANSS total score (β = −0.00003, adjusted P = 0.01) and general psychopathology scores (β = −0.00002, adjusted P < 0.02). These findings suggest that inflammation is involved in the pathophysiology and clinical manifestations of schizophrenia, and that blood-based inflammatory indices may serve as screening tools or indicators for the inflammatory status and severity of symptoms of schizophrenia patients.

Gender difference in association between clinical symptoms and alexithymia in chronic schizophrenia: A large sample study based on Chinese Han population

BackgroundAlexithymia, a prevalent social cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, remains insufficiently studied. Though some studies propose a link between alexithymia and clinical symptoms of schizophrenia, this connection lacks consistent confirmation. Additionally, there is limited research on gender difference in alexithymia among schizophrenia patients. To fill this gap, our study aimed to conduct a large-sample survey of Chinese Han patients with chronic schizophrenia to explore whether there are gender differences between clinical symptoms and alexithymia. MethodsWe obtained sociodemographic characteristics of 987 schizophrenia patients, measured their clinical symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and assessed their self-reported alexithymia using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). ResultsIn patients with chronic schizophrenia, the prevalence of alexithymia did not differ between genders (male: 35.51 % vs. female: 26.91 %, P = 0.018). Correlation and linear regression analyses revealed that PANSS scores and TAS-20 scores were widely correlated in both male and female patients. In particular, multiple linear regression analysis showed that the TAS total score was positively correlated with negative symptoms and cognitive symptoms in male patients, while it was positively correlated with negative symptoms and depressive symptoms in female patients. ConclusionOur study suggests that the prevalence of alexithymia in patients with chronic schizophrenia does not differ between genders. Negative symptoms are related to the TAS-20 total score in both male and female patients, while cognitive symptoms are only related to the TAS-20 total score in male patients, and depressive symptoms are only related to the TAS-20 total score in female patients.

Sex-based influential factors for dental caries in patients with schizophrenia

BackgroundSchizophrenia is a common mental disorder that seriously affects patients’ daily lives and brings heavy psychological and economic burdens to their families and society. The oral problems of patients with schizophrenia are gradually gaining attention, among which dental caries are among the most common oral diseases. Sex differences may be related not only to the various clinical symptoms of schizophrenia but also to different oral hygiene statuses; therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to investigate sex differences related to influencing factors for dental caries in patients with schizophrenia.MethodInpatients with schizophrenia over 18 years old were included in this study, and multidimensional indicators such as demographics, symptom and cognitive impairment assessments, medications, and the caries index of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) were collected. An analysis of sex-based influential factors for dental caries in schizophrenia patients was performed.ResultsFour-hundred and ninety-six patients with schizophrenia were included, with a mean age of 46.73 ± 12.23 years, of which 142 were females and 354 were males. The mean DMFT was significantly higher in males (8.81 ± 8.50) than in females (5.63 ± 6.61, p < 0.001), and the odd ratio of caries in males to females was significantly higher as well (OR = 2.305, p < 0.001). The influential factors of caries in male patients were independently associated with age and smoking status, in which current smokers were at the highest risk for developing caries, and different smoking statuses had various influencing factors for caries. The influencing factors for caries in female patients were independently associated with age, antipsychotic dose, PANSS-positive symptoms, and MMSE levels.ConclusionOur findings suggest sex differences exist among influential factors for caries in patients with schizophrenia. These risk factors may even be associated with and affect the treatment and prognosis of psychiatric symptoms in patients. Therefore, oral hygiene management of patients with schizophrenia should be enhanced. These differential factors provide new visions and ideas for formulating individual interventions, treatments, and care priorities.

Genotypic and Haplotypic Association of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase rs4680 and rs4818 Gene Polymorphisms with Particular Clinical Symptoms in Schizophrenia.

Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) gene variants are involved in different neuropsychiatric disorders and cognitive impairments, associated with altered dopamine function. This study investigated the genotypic and haplotypic association of COMT rs4680 and rs4618 polymorphisms with the severity of cognitive and other clinical symptoms in 544 male and 385 female subjects with schizophrenia. COMT rs4818 G carriers were more frequent in male patients with mild abstract thinking difficulties, compared to CC homozygotes or C allele carriers. Male carriers of COMT rs4680 A allele had worse abstract thinking (N5) scores than GG carriers, whereas AA homozygotes were more frequent in male subjects with lower scores on the intensity of the somatic concern (G1) item, compared to G carriers. Male carriers of COMT rs4818-rs4680 GA haplotype had the highest scores on the G1 item (somatic concern), whereas GG haplotype carriers had the lowest scores on G2 (anxiety) and G6 (depression) items. COMT GG haplotype was less frequent in female patients with severe disturbance of volition (G13 item) compared to the group with mild symptoms, while CG haplotype was more frequent in female patients with severe then mild symptoms. These findings suggest the sex-specific genotypic and haplotypic association of COMT variants with a severity of cognitive and other clinical symptoms of schizophrenia.

Resting-state functional connectivity correlates of antipsychotic treatment in unmedicated schizophrenia.

Antipsychotics may modulate the resting state functional connectivity(rsFC) to improve clinical symptoms in schizophrenia(Sz). Existing literature has potential confounders like past medication effects and evaluating preselected regions/networks. We aimed to evaluate connectivity pattern changes with antipsychotics in unmedicated Sz using Multivariate pattern analysis(MVPA), a data-driven technique for whole-brain connectome analysis. Forty-seven unmedicated patients with Sz(DSM-IV-TR) underwent clinical evaluation and neuroimaging at baseline and after 3-months of antipsychotic treatment. Resting-state functional MRI was analysed using group-MVPA to derive 5-components. The brain region with significant connectivity pattern changes with antipsychotics was identified, and post-hoc seed-to-voxel analysis was performed to identify connectivity changes and their association with symptom changes. Connectome-MVPA analysis revealed the connectivity pattern of a cluster localised to left anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyri (ACC/PCG) (peak coordinates:x=-04,y=+30,z=+26;k=12;cluster-pFWE=0.002) to differ significantly after antipsychotics. Specifically, its connections with clusters of precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex(PCC) and left inferior temporal gyrus(ITG) correlated with improvement in positive and negative symptoms scores, respectively. ACC/PCG, a hub of the default mode network, seems to mediate the antipsychotic effects in unmedicated Sz. Evaluating causality models with data from randomised controlled design using the MVPA approach would further enhance our understanding of therapeutic connectomics in Sz.

Associations between theory of mind and clinical symptoms in recent onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

People with schizophrenia often present with Theory of mind (ToM) deficits, and the link between these deficits and clinical symptoms remains to be refined, for instance through the use of more recent assessment methods. The objective of this study was to examine the associations between a psychometrically sound ToM task and the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia as measured with the five dimensions of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) namely positive, negative, cognitive/disorganization, depression/anxiety and excitability/hostility, while controlling for non-social cognitive abilities. Seventy participants with recent-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) were assessed for ToM using the Combined stories task (COST) and for clinical symptoms using the PANSS. The results revealed significant correlations between ToM and the positive (r = -0.292, p = 0.015) and cognitive/disorganization (r = -0.480, p < 0.001) dimensions when controlling for non-social cognitive abilities. In contrast, the negative symptoms dimension was only significantly correlated with ToM when non-social cognitive abilities were not controlled for (r = -0.278, p = 0.020). Very few prior studies used the five-dimensions of the PANSS to examine the link with ToM and this study is the first to rely on the COST, which includes a non-social control condition. This study highlights the importance of taking non-social cognitive abilities into account when considering the relationship between ToM and symptoms.

Anticipated Pleasure and Displeasure for Future Social and nonsocial Events: A Scale Development Study

Abstract Background and Hypothesis People with schizophrenia (SCZ) or schizotypal traits (ST) have difficulties in anticipating future pleasure and displeasure in social situations. However, no self-report scale has been developed to specifically capture these abilities. This study aimed to develop and validate the Social Affective Forecasting Scale (SAFS), and to examine how anticipated pleasure and displeasure are associated with ST and clinical symptoms in SCZ. Study Design Study 1 recruited a main sample of 666 college students and a validation sample of 927 college students to complete the SAFS and other measurements for anhedonia. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), parallel analysis, and measurement invariance analysis were conducted. Study 2 recruited 2655 college students, 47 people with SCZ and 47 matched controls to complete the SAFS. Correlation analysis, regression analysis, and independent t-tests were performed. Study Results Both EFA and CFA indicated a 4-factor model which was supported by parallel analysis in the validation sample. The SAFS showed good internal consistency, convergent validity, and strong invariance across sex. Interpersonal features of ST and negative symptoms in SCZ were associated with reduced anticipated pleasure for positive social events. Conclusions The SAFS appears to be a reliable scale for evaluating anticipated pleasure and displeasure for future social and nonsocial events, and can be applied to study social anhedonia in individuals with ST and individuals with SCZ.

Association of Transferrin Gene Polymorphism with Cognitive Deficits and Psychiatric Symptoms in Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia.

A large amount of recent literature has focused on impaired iron homeostasis in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Specifically, microarray analysis has illustrated associations between the transferrin locus and schizophrenia. To elaborate on the effects of transferrin on schizophrenia and its psychiatric phenotypes, our study aimed to investigate whether transferrin gene polymorphism was correlated with cognitive deficits and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia. We recruited 564 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 422 healthy controls (HCs) in a Han Chinese population, collected phenotypic data, and genotyped the rs3811655 polymorphism of the transferrin gene. Our results showed that the rs3811655 polymorphism was related to cognitive performance in both patients and HCs, as well as negative symptoms in patients (all p &lt; 0.05), and patients carrying at least one G-allele showed worsened cognition/severe negative symptoms (all p &lt; 0.05). Further analyses also found that the rs3811655 polymorphism in combination with cognition may exert small but significant contributions to the negative (β = -0.10, t = -2.48, p &lt; 0.05) or total psychiatric symptoms (β = -0.08, t = -1.92, p &lt; 0.05) in patients. Our findings indicated that the rs3811655 polymorphism may be implicated in the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia and HCs as well as psychiatric symptoms in patients, which suggested the possible iron regulatory mechanism in the pathology of schizophrenia.

WITHDRAWN: Structural impairment in superficial and deep white matter and its association with clinical symptoms in schizophrenia: A harmonized, multisite diffusion MRI study

While the disconnectivity among brain regions has been one of the main hypotheses for schizophrenia, superficial white matter (SWM) has drawn less attention in schizophrenia research than deep white matter (DWM). Using the structural equation model (SEM), we aimed to investigate the structural abnormalities of SWM and DWM in schizophrenia and their association with clinical symptoms. We obtained the diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) data of 223 healthy controls and 143 schizophrenia patients. After harmonizing the raw dMRIs from three different studies, we performed whole-brain two-tensor tractography and fiber clustering of the tractography data, resulting in 8 SWM and 33 DWM tracts. In the patient group, we adopted an SEM for the association with clinical symptoms, using the fractional anisotropy (FA) deviation and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale scores. Among the 18 tracts with a lower FA in the patient group, the following structures were included in the SEM: the cingulum bundle, genu, rostral body, and isthmus of the corpus callosum; and striato-frontal, superficial frontal, and superficial temporal tracts. The latent variable white matter impairment , consisting of the FA deviations of the seven white matter tracts, was negatively correlated with the latent variable clinical symptom severity (B=-0.23, p=0.047). The negative symptoms (B=1.12) contributed more to the latent variable clinical symptom severity than did the positive symptoms (B=0.74). The SWM and DWM tract structural abnormalities were identified in schizophrenia patients. The association with clinical symptoms was more prominent in the negative symptoms. • The harmonized diffusion MRI data was analyzed using the whole-brain tractography and fiber clustering. • The patients with schizophrenia had a significantly lower FA in 14 DWM and 4 SWM tracts. • The association of white matter impairments with clinical symptoms was more prominent in the negative symptoms.

Understanding MMPI-2 response structure between schizophrenia and healthy individuals.

BackgroundUsing Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) clinical scales to evaluate clinical symptoms in schizophrenia is a well-studied topic. Nonetheless, research focuses less on how these clinical scales interact with each other.AimsInvestigates the network structure and interaction of the MMPI-2 clinical scales between healthy individuals and patients with schizophrenia through the Bayesian network.MethodData was collected from Wuhan Psychiatric Hospital from March 2008 to May 2018. A total of 714 patients with schizophrenia and 714 healthy subjects were identified through propensity score matching according to the criteria of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Separated MMPI-2 clinical scales Bayesian networks were built for healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia, respectively.ResultsThe Bayesian network showed that the lower 7 scale was a consequence of the correlation between the lower 2 scale and the greater 8 scale. A solely lower 7 scale does yield neither a lower 2 scale nor a higher 8 scale. The proposed method showed 72% of accuracy with 78% area under the ROC curve (AUC), similar to the previous studies.LimitationsThe proposed method simplified the continuous Bayesian network to predict binary outcomes, including other categorical data is not explored. Besides, the participants might only represent an endemic as they come from a single hospital.ConclusionThis study identified MMPI-2 clinical scales correlation and built separated Bayesian networks to investigate the difference between patients with schizophrenia and healthy people. These differences may contribute to a better understanding of the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia and provide medical professionals with new perspectives for diagnosis.

Mismatch negativity and P3a amplitude in children with familial high risk of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder – A Danish register-based EEG study

BackgroundInfrequent deviants in a rapid sequence of sounds elicit a negative cortical potential over the frontocentral midline (mismatch negativity, MMN) followed by a positive deflection (P3a). Both cortical potentials are consistently attenuated in patients with schizophrenia (SZ), and, to a lesser degree, in patients with bipolar disorder (BP). ObjectiveSince it is unclear when MMN and P3a deficits arise relative to the emergence of symptoms, we examined whether MMN and P3a alterations are already detectable in children with familial high risk. MethodsUsing 128-channel electroencephalography, we recorded auditory MMN and P3a evoked by a deviation in sound duration, frequency, or both in 51 children with familial high-risk for SZ (FHR-SZ), 41 children with familial high-risk for BP (FHR-BP), and 39 population-based children (PBC) at a mean age of 12.10. ResultsMMN amplitude evoked by a duration deviant was larger in children with FHR-BP compared to PBC and FHR-SZ. P3a amplitude in response to a duration ∗ frequency deviant was larger in children with FHR-BP compared to children with FHR-SZ, but not compared to PBC. MMN- and P3a-peak latency did not differ between groups. ConclusionsAt an age of around 12 years, children with FHR-BP display enhanced neural sensitivity to change detection of duration deviants, while FHR-SZ showed a normal response pattern. Longitudinal recordings in high-risk children during adolescence are required to elucidate the temporal trajectories of MMN and P3a responses and how they relate to the emergence of first clinical symptoms in SZ and BP.

Sensory Integration Based Program Developed According to the Model of Creative Ability in an Individual with Schizophrenia: An Occupational Therapy Case Report

Schizophrenia is a serious brain disease that causes individuals to be unable to distinguish between real and unreal phenomena, preventing healthy thought flow, emotion control and normal behavior. Symptoms of schizophrenia that begin at an early age are accompanied by positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. Understanding the neurological processes accompanying clinical symptoms in schizophrenia is of great importance in terms of defining, researching, and improving mental health disorders The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of a sensory-based occupational therapy intervention developed according to the Vona du Toit Model of Creative Ability on the clinical symptoms and sensory processing skills of an individual with schizophrenia. Creative ability level was evaluated with Model of Creative Ability, positive and negative symptoms as clinical symptoms were evaluated with Positive and Negative Symptom Scale, and cognitive symptoms as other clinical symptoms were evaluated with Mini Mental State Exemination, and sensory processing process were evaluated with Adolesan/ Adult Sensory Profile. Evaluations were applied twice, before and after the intervention. According to the results of the research, it was observed that the 8-week occupational therapy intervention applied to the patient with schizophrenia reduced clinical symptoms and improved sensory processing skills and creative abilities. This study showed that when an individual with schizophrenia is supported with a developmental occupational therapy program that includes sensory integration-based behaviors and abilities, sensory processing skills, positive and negative symptoms, cognitive symptoms, and creative ability levels improve.

Could low α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase plasma concentration cause schizophrenia?

Objectives Using a neurodevelopmental approach to examine the aetiology, we predicted an enzyme deficiency to exist at the cellular level and aimed to measure α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (α-NAGAL) blood levels. Methods The study included 32 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls. The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) was applied to the patients with schizophrenia. Serum α-NAGAL concentrations were measured in blood samples taken from all participants using the human alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase ELISA Kit. Results The mean α-NAGAL values of schizophrenic patients are lower than the mean α-NAGAL values of the control group (p = 0.000 < 0.001). Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between α-NAGAL values and PANSS scores of patients with schizophrenia. PANSS total (r = −0.708, p = 0.000 < 0.001), PANSS positive (r = −0.627, p = 0.000 < 0.001), PANSS negative (r = −0.386, p = 0.029 < 0.05). And a positive moderate correlation was found between the age of onset of the disease and α-NAGAL levels (r = 0.529, p = 0.002 < 0.05). Conclusions Based on the neurodevelopmental hypothesis, the low α-NAGAL concentrations this study found might cause accumulation of glycoproteins in the lysosomes in the central nervous system during the gestational period and then might result in the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia. α-NAGAL may be an important factor in the aetiology of schizophrenia.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase-1 (MTHFD1) 1958 G>A genetic polymorphism (rs2236225) is associated with lower schizophrenia risk: Preliminary study

Despite a large amount of data on the association of folate metabolism disturbances with different aspects of schizophrenia, the role of the methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase-1 (MTHFD1) 1958 G>A polymorphism in this disorder is still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to assess the distribution of MTHFD1 1958 G>A allele and genotype frequencies in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Also, we aimed to study the association of allele/genotype carriage of this single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with biochemical markers of the one-carbon metabolism (OCM) and with the severity of schizophrenia symptoms. Methods: The carriage of MTHFD1 1958 G>A alleles/genotypes were evaluated in 116 patients with schizophrenia and 62 healthy volunteers. Biochemical markers of OCM were studied in 89 patients and 59 volunteers. Clinical symptoms of schizophrenia and the severity of extrapyramidal side effects were assessed in patients. Results: an association of the wild GG genotype with schizophrenia was shown (GG versus AG/AA: χ2 = 5.34; p = 0.021). A higher level of cobalamin in carriers of the wild GG genotype may indicate competitive inhibition of methylation processes in carriers of this genotype, which requires further study.

The Association of the Gut Microbiota with Clinical Features in Schizophrenia.

The connection between gut microbiota and schizophrenia has become a fertile area of research. The relationship is bidirectional and quite complex, but is likely to lead to practical clinical applications. For example, commensal microbiota have been shown to produce inflammatory metabolites that can cross the blood–brain barrier—a possible neurobiological precursor of psychosis. Antipsychotics that treat these individuals have been shown to alter gut microbiota. On the other hand, life style in schizophrenia, such as diet and decreased exercise, can be disruptive to the normal microbiome diversity. In the present paper, we conduct a review of PubMed literature focusing on the relationship of gut microbiota with clinical symptoms of schizophrenia, which, to our knowledge, has not yet been reviewed. Numerous clinical characteristics were identified correlating to gut microbial changes, such as violence, negative symptoms, treatment resistance, and global functioning. The most consistently demonstrated correlations to gut microbial changes across studies were for the overall symptom severity and negative symptom severity. Although numerous studies found changes in these domains, there is much variability between the bacteria that change in abundance between studies, likely due to the regional and methodological differences between studies. The current literature shows promising correlations between gut microbiota profiles and several clinical features of schizophrenia, but initial studies require replication.

Comparison between Interleukin-2 Serum Levels and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale Scores of Schizophrenia Patients that Received Haloperidol with Risperidone Therapy

BACKGROUND: There is a possibility of interleukin-2 (IL-2) being involved in the pathophysiology of Schizophrenia. The increase of IL-2 levels has been discovered in the serum of schizophrenic patients in earlier studies. An amount of antipsychotic has been associated with the decrease of IL-2. AIM: Therefore, this study was intended to compare the serum IL-2 levels of schizophrenic patients who received Haloperidol therapy with patients who received Risperidone as well as examine the relationship between serum IL-2 levels with the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) score of schizophrenic patients receiving Haloperidol and Risperidone therapy. METHODS: This study is an observational study with a prospective cohort design consisting of 36 patients who have met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition criteria for Schizophrenic patients who did not take antipsychotic drugs for 2 weeks and were hospitalized at the Special Hospital of South Sulawesi Province. Afterwards, the patients were grouped into two groups, where each group consisted of 18 people, namely, the group of patients who received Haloperidol and the group of patients who received Risperidone, and then were furtherly evaluated until the 4th week. The sample examination method used was enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to see the blood serum IL-2 levels. Clinical symptoms of Schizophrenia were assessed using the PANSS score. RESULTS: The study showed that serum IL-2 levels decreased at the 4th week after conducting antipsychotic therapy among both groups. The decrease in PANSS scores in the Risperidone group was greater compared to the Haloperidol group at week 3 and week 4. In the serum IL-2 levels difference of the group who received Risperidone therapy, the decrease was greater than those receiving Haloperidol therapy (3.72 ± 1.30 ng/ml vs. 2.43 ± 1.39 ng/ml, p = 0.008). In addition, based on the correlation test, no significant correlation was present between the difference in the total PANSS score and the difference in the serum IL-2 levels within the Haloperidol group (p = 0.059, r = 0.453) and the Risperidone group (p = 0.518, r = 0.113). Schizophrenic patients have higher serum IL-2 levels than healthy people. Schizophrenic patients who received antipsychotics for 4 weeks experienced a decrease in serum IL-2 levels. Risperidone administration had a higher decrease in serum IL-2 levels than Haloperidol. CONCLUSION: Changes in serum IL-2 levels as a consideration of one of the Biomarkers are still needed for further evaluation. The therapeutic role of Haloperidol and Risperidone can be attributed as anti-inflammatory in Schizophrenia but cannot be attributed to improvement in the psychopathological status of Schizophrenic patients.

Association of Cognitive Impairment With Anhedonia in Patients With Schizophrenia.

Anhedonia is considered as one of the five dimensions of negative symptoms and mainly refers to the reduction of the capacity of feeling pleasure. Increasing evidence suggests that anhedonia in schizophrenia may be partly explained by cognitive impairment. However, the associations between specific cognitive impairment and anhedonia are not fully investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine anticipatory anhedonia, consummatory anhedonia, and their cognitive associations in schizophrenia. A total number of 100 patients with schizophrenia and 67 healthy volunteers were recruited. The clinical symptoms of schizophrenia were assessed. Anticipatory pleasure, consummatory pleasure, and cognitive functions of each participant were measured. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the influencing factors of anhedonia in schizophrenia. The results showed no significant differences in sex, age, education year, body mass index (BMI), and marital status between the schizophrenia group and healthy control group (all P > 0.05). Both anticipatory and consummatory pleasure in the schizophrenia group were significantly lower than those in the healthy control group (all P < 0.05). Immediate memory, visual spanning, language, attention, and delayed memory were significantly poorer in the schizophrenia group (all P < 0.05). The results showed that language deficit is an independent risk factor for anticipatory anhedonia (B' = 0.265, P = 0.008, 95% CI: 0.038-0.244), while delayed memory deficit is an independent risk factor for consummatory anhedonia (B' = 0.391, P < 0.001, 95% CI:0.085-0.237). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reported the specific cognitive associations of anhedonia in schizophrenia. The findings have added new evidence on the influencing factors of anhedonia and provided clues for the associations between clinical manifestations of schizophrenia.

Prospective, observational, single-centre cohort study with an independent control group matched for age and sex aimed at investigating the significance of cholinergic activity in patients with schizophrenia: study protocol of the CLASH-study

IntroductionAlterations in the cholinergic metabolism may cause various clinical symptoms of schizophrenia. In addition to the ‘monoamine hypothesis,’ neuroinflammation is also discussed as a cause of schizophrenia. To date, there...