Telo S, Bilgic S, Karabulut N
Medical Biochemistry Laboratory, Mental Health Hospital, 23200 Elazıg, Turkey, e-mail:
Department of Psychiatry, Geyve State Hospital, Sakarya, Turkey.
West Indian Med J. 2016 Mar 15;65(2):312-315. doi: 10.7727/wimj.2015.186.
Thyroid disorders are highly prevalent in patients with schizophrenia. Changes in the levels of thyroid hormones cause the occurrence of psychiatric disorders and affect the response to treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in thyroid hormone levels in patients with chronic schizophrenia, and to demonstrate any association between psychiatric symptoms and hormones.
Sixty-three patients with schizophrenia and 53 controls were included in this study. The serum levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in patients and controls were tested by using the chemiluminescence immunoassay. Symptoms were assessed via the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).
The level of FT4 in the schizophrenia group was statistically significantly lower than the control group (p = 0.045). There was no significant difference between the clinical subtypes of schizophrenia and thyroid hormone levels. There was a mild negative correlation between PANSS negative subscale scores and levels of TSH (p = 0.023).
These findings suggest that the subclinical hypothyroidism observed in the chronic schizophrenic patients may be associated with the treatment of neuroleptics. The possible alterations of thyroid hormones should be considered in chronic schizophrenic patients for treatment with neuroleptics.
甲状腺疾病在精神分裂症患者中极为常见。甲状腺激素水平的变化会导致精神障碍的发生，并影响治疗反应。本研究旨在调查慢性精神分裂症患者甲状腺激素水平的变化，并证明精神症状与激素之间的任何关联。
本研究纳入了63例精神分裂症患者和53例对照。采用化学发光免疫分析法检测患者和对照的血清游离三碘甲状腺原氨酸（FT3）、游离甲状腺素（FT4）和促甲状腺激素（TSH）水平。通过阳性和阴性症状量表（PANSS）评估症状。
精神分裂症组的FT4水平在统计学上显著低于对照组（p = 0.045）。精神分裂症的临床亚型与甲状腺激素水平之间无显著差异。PANSS阴性分量表得分与TSH水平之间存在轻度负相关（p = 0.023）。
这些发现表明，慢性精神分裂症患者中观察到的亚临床甲状腺功能减退可能与抗精神病药物治疗有关。在使用抗精神病药物治疗慢性精神分裂症患者时，应考虑甲状腺激素可能的改变。
