Elevated neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory mechanisms are reported to play important roles in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a simple and easily accessible indicator of the systemic inflammatory response. Our goal was to investigate whether NLR was higher in patients with schizophrenia than in healthy comparison subjects similar in age, sex, and body mass index. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this multicenter cross-sectional study, we analyzed 156 non-obese patients with schizophrenia and 89 healthy control subjects for complete blood count. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale was used to determine the severity of clinical pathology. RESULTS: The mean ± SD NLR of patients with schizophrenia was significantly higher than that of healthy controls (2.6 ± 1.1 vs. 1.9 ± 0.6, respectively, p < 0.001). NLR did not significantly correlate with severity and duration of schizophrenia (r = 0.065. p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that NLR levels are increased in physically healthy, non-obese, patients with schizophrenia when compared with physically and mentally healthy individuals. To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrated the association between NLR and schizophrenia.

Plasma omentin levels in drug-free patients with schizophrenia.

AIMS: We aimed to investigate plasma omentin concentrations in non-obese, drug-free patients with schizophrenia in comparison with healthy volunteers. METHOD: Thirty-two patients with schizophrenia and 33 control subjects were recruited. Plasma omentin levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Plasma levels of omentin (ng/ml) were found to be markedly lower in patients with schizophrenia (median = 7.7, 25th percentile = 6.3, 75th percentile = 604.9) than in controls (median = 486, 25th percentile = 326, 75th percentile = 794.2, p < 0.01). No significant difference was found between drug-free (n = 23) and drug-naive (n = 9) patients with respect to plasma omentin levels. Omentin concentrations correlated negatively with severity of illness, suggesting that patients with more severe pathology had lower fasting levels of omentin (n = 32; r = -0.387; p = 0.029). CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that plasma omentin levels are decreased in physically healthy, non-obese, antipsychotic-free patients with schizophrenia when compared with physically and mentally healthy individuals. To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrated the association between omentin and schizophrenia.

Serum levels of omentin are not altered in drug-naive patients with major depression: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Decreased plasma levels of omentin, a relatively novel adipokine, are shown to be associated with metabolic abnormalities and proinflammatory states. Although other adipokines such as leptin and adiponectin have been extensively investigated in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), no studies have evaluated omentin levels in major depression. Therefore, this study sought to test the hypothesis that drug-naive patients with MDD would have lower serum omentin levels than a healthy control group similar in age, sex, and body mass index. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with MDD (10 men) and 30 healthy control subjects (10 men) were studied. Plasma concentration of omentin, along with other biochemical parameters, was measured after a period of fasting. The severity of depression was determined by the Beck Depression Inventory. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between patients with MDD (723.3±233.8 ng/ml) and healthy comparison subjects (670.7±351.8 ng/ml) in mean plasma concentrations of omentin (p>0.05). There was no significant correlation between plasma omentin levels and depression severity (r=-0.147; p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first investigation of omentin levels in patients with MDD. The hypothesis that circulating omentin levels would be different in depressed patients than in healthy controls is not supported by our data.