Level of vascular endothelial growth factor and its relationship with symptoms in stable schizophrenia. J / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the level of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in stable schizophrenia patients, and to explore the relationship between serum VEGF level and clinical symptoms. Methods Seventy-five patients with stable schizophrenia and 40 healthy controls were enrolled. The levels of serum VEGF were detected by flow multiplex protein analysis. The clinical symptoms of patients were assessed by positive and negative symptom scale (PANSS). Results The level of serum VEGF was significantly lower in patients group than in healthy control group [medians (lower and upper quartiles) were 3.77 (2.61, 5.14) pg/mL vs. 6.21 (4.37, 11.16) pg/mL, P＜0.01]. There was no significant difference in serum VEGF levels between patients with different gender, smoking or family history of mental illness (P＞0.05). The level of VEGF was negatively correlated with the total score of PANSS (r=-0.27, P=0.03), negative symptom subscale score (r=-0.25, P=0.04), lack of response score (r=-0.26, P=0.02), but not with other PANSS scores (P＞0.05). Conclusion The serum level of VEGF in patients with stable schizophrenia is lower than that in healthy control group. There is, to some degree, a relationship between the level of VEGF and the severity of clinical symptoms in patients with stable schizophrenia.