Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Feb 14:02537176251317648.
doi: 10.1177/02537176251317648. Online ahead of print.

Can Non-specific Blood Inflammatory Biomarkers Predict Recovery in Acute Transient Psychotic Disorder? A Prospective Observational Study

Jaya Prakash  1 , Sujita Kumar Kar  1 , Wahid Ali  2 , Pronob Kumar Dalal  1
Affiliations

Can Non-specific Blood Inflammatory Biomarkers Predict Recovery in Acute Transient Psychotic Disorder? A Prospective Observational Study

Jaya Prakash et al. Indian J Psychol Med. .

Abstract

Background: Inflammation may play an important role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. This study aimed to measure the inflammatory marker (serum prolactin, serum cortisol, C-reactive protein [CRP], erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), total leucocyte count, and differential leucocyte count) in drug naïve patients of the first episode of acute and transient psychotic disorder (ATPD) at baseline and their alterations after three months of antipsychotic treatment.

Methods: This prospective study estimated the change of inflammatory biomarkers in patients with ATPD over three months, along with the change in psychopathology and global functioning. Attempts were taken to compare the trend of change in inflammatory biomarkers with clinical improvement.

Result: A total of 157 patients with ATPD were screened to recruit 78 patients, of which only 33 patients were followed up till three months from the point of recruitment. More than three-fourths of the patients improved significantly during the brief follow-up period. Patients who improved substantially with antipsychotic drug treatment had a significantly lower age and age at the onset of psychiatric illness. The patients who improved also had a significant reduction in total leucocyte count, absolute neutrophil count, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio from baseline to three-month follow-up. Duration of untreated illness had a significant positive correlation (P = .042; r = 0.401) with the ESR.

Conclusion: Inflammatory biomarkers are raised in drug naïve patients with ATPD, which improves with antipsychotic drug treatment, indicating a possible role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of ATPD.

Keywords: Acute transient psychotic disorder; biomarkers; inflammation; pathogenesis; psychosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Bustan Y, Drapisz A, Ben Dor DH, et al.. Elevated neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in non-affective psychotic adolescent inpatients: Evidence for early association between inflammation and psychosis. Psychiatry Res, 2018; 262: 149–153. - PubMed
    1. Cabrera B, Bioque M, Penadés R, et al.. Cognition and psychopathology in first-episode psychosis: Are they related to inflammation?. Psychol Med, 2016; 46: 2133–2144. - PubMed
    1. Miller BJ, Mellor A and Buckley P.. Total and differential white blood cell counts, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and the metabolic syndrome in non-affective psychoses. Brain Behav Immun, 2013; 31: 82–89. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Singh B and Chaudhuri TK. Role of C-reactive protein in schizophrenia: An overview. Psychiatry Res, 2014; 216: 277–285. - PubMed
    1. Watkins CC and Andrews SR. Clinical studies of neuroinflammatory mechanisms in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res, 2016; 176: 14–22. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources