Decreased Expression of IFNG-AS1, IFNG and IL-1B Inflammatory Genes in Medicated Schizophrenia and Bipolar Patients.

Although aberrant expression of cytokines such as IL-1B and IFNG in blood from psychiatric patients supports a role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of the disease, little is known about mechanisms underlying their regulation. We aimed to evaluate the putative role of IFNG-AS1 long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in controlling of IFNG locus in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar (BP). We analysed the expression levels of IFNG-AS1 long non-coding RNA, and IFNG and IL-1B mRNAs in blood cells from 27 SZ- and 30 BP-medicated patients and in 32 healthy controls. Our data showed that IFNG-AS1 expression dramatically decreased in BP and SZ patients compared with controls and was significantly correlated with IFNG expression in patients specifically. Transcript levels of IL-1B were also significantly reduced in BP and SZ patients compared with controls. No significant differences in the expression of IFNG-AS1, IFNG and IL-1B genes were found between patients with BP and SZ. Our data shed further light on the potential role of inflammation, and more particularly inflammatory lncRNAs, in SZ and BP diseases and their pharmacological treatment.