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. 2021 Nov 11;21(1):561.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-021-03569-5.

Relationship between TNF-α levels and psychiatric symptoms in first-episode drug-naïve patients with schizophrenia before and after risperidone treatment and in chronic patients

Chen Lin  1 , Ke Chen  2 , Jianjin Yu  2 , Wei Feng  2 , Weihong Fu  2 , Fude Yang  2 , Xiangyang Zhang  3 , Dachun Chen  4
Affiliations

Relationship between TNF-α levels and psychiatric symptoms in first-episode drug-naïve patients with schizophrenia before and after risperidone treatment and in chronic patients

Chen Lin et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: The influence of antipsychotic drugs on tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels is unclear, and there is no consensus on the association between TNF-α and psychotic symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the differences in TNF-α levels and clinical correlations in first-episode drug-naïve (FEDN) patients with schizophrenia before and after treatment and in chronic patients.

Methods: A total of 103 (51 FEDN and 52 chronic) patients and 114 healthy controls were recruited. Demographic and clinical data, including TNF-α levels, were recorded. We used the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) to measure the psychopathology of all patients.

Results: TNF-α levels before treatment were significantly higher in FEDN patients than in chronic patients and healthy controls. No significant sex differences were found in the TNF-α levels of patients with schizophrenia. The TNF-α levels before treatment were significantly positively related to changes in PANSS negative symptoms in FEDN patients. The TNF-α levels in chronic patients were significantly negatively correlated with the general psychopathology subscales and PANSS total scores.

Conclusions: Increased TNF-α levels in FEDN patients and their correlation with psychopathology indicate that inflammatory cytokines may play a crucial role in the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia, and inflammation-directed therapy may, therefore, improve negative symptoms.

Keywords: Inflammatory cytokines; PANSS; Schizophrenia; TNF-α.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest was disclosed for the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The scattergram of serum TNF-α levels in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. This figure presents a scattergram of serum TNF-α levels from FEDN patients with schizophrenia before treatment (FEDNP) (n = 51), chronic patients with schizophrenia (CP) (n = 52), and healthy controls (HC) (n = 114)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Changes in TNF-α Levels before and after treatment in FEDN patients. The nonparametric Wilcoxon test (for testing two related samples) showed there was no significant difference in the TNF-α levels of FEDN patients before and after 12 weeks of treatment with antipsychotic drugs (Z = -1.477, p > 0.05)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Correlation between the reductions in the TNF-α levels and the PANSS negative subscale reductions in FEDN patients. The Spearman correlation analysis showed that reductions in the TNF-α levels before and after treatment were significantly positively associated with PANSS negative subscale reductions (r = 0.403, p < 0.05)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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