Cytokine production in unmedicated and treated schizophrenic patients.

Recent findings have strengthened the hypothesis that immunological dysfunctions may contribute towards the multifactorial pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The validity of these findings is questioned by the fact that most studied subjects have received potentially immunomodulatory medication upon investigation. In order to rule out such confounding effects, 24 initially unmedicated acutely ill schizophrenic patients were studied immunologically and psychiatrically (PANSS) before and during 4 weeks of neuroleptic treatment. The production of IFN-gamma was decreased upon admission and after 2 weeks of treatment compared to matched healthy controls. No differences in IL-2 and IFN-gamma production between unmedicated and medicated states were observed. These results do not support the notion that neuroleptic medication in vivo might influence TH1 cytokine production in schizophrenia.