Department of Psychiatry, Seoul Metropolitan Eunpyeong Hospital, 90, Baengyeonsan-ro, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, 122-913, Republic of Korea.
Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, 81, Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, Republic of Korea.
Psychiatry Res. 2015 Jul 30;228(1):95-9. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.04.020. Epub 2015 Apr 25.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent angiogenetic factor, is a known neurotrophic factor. In this study, we examined plasma levels of VEGF in 50 patients with schizophrenia (SPR) and 50 healthy control subjects. We also explored any changes in plasma VEGF levels after 6-week treatment with antipsychotic agents in patients with schizophrenia. All subjects with schizophrenia were either medication-naïve or medication-free for at least 4 weeks before assessment. Plasma VEGF levels in all subjects were significantly correlated with smoking duration, which was considered to be a significant covariate. Pre-treatment plasma VEGF levels in patients with schizophrenia were significantly lower than those in healthy controls. Post-treatment VEGF levels were significantly increased in patients with schizophrenia. Plasma VEGF levels in patients with schizophrenia did not exhibit significant correlation with the total or subscale scores of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) either at baseline or at the end of the 6-week treatment. In conclusion, our findings reveal that plasma VEGF levels before treatment were lower in patients with schizophrenia and that their VEGF levels increased after treatment. Thus, VEGF may have a neuroprotective role in the improvement of schizophrenia or in the treatment effects of antipsychotics.
血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）是一种有效的血管生成因子，也是一种已知的神经营养因子。本研究检测了 50 例精神分裂症患者（SPR）和 50 例健康对照者的血浆 VEGF 水平。我们还探讨了抗精神病药物治疗 6 周后精神分裂症患者血浆 VEGF 水平的变化。所有精神分裂症患者在评估前均至少无药物治疗 4 周或未服用药物。所有受试者的血浆 VEGF 水平与吸烟持续时间呈显著正相关，吸烟持续时间被认为是一个重要的协变量。精神分裂症患者治疗前的血浆 VEGF 水平明显低于健康对照组。治疗后，精神分裂症患者的 VEGF 水平明显升高。精神分裂症患者的血浆 VEGF 水平在治疗前或 6 周治疗结束时均与阳性和阴性症状量表（PANSS）的总分或各分量表评分无显著相关性。总之，我们的研究结果表明，治疗前精神分裂症患者的血浆 VEGF 水平较低，治疗后 VEGF 水平升高。因此，VEGF 可能在改善精神分裂症或抗精神病药物的治疗效果方面具有神经保护作用。
