Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Center for Women and Children's Health, Shanghai, China.
Early Interv Psychiatry. 2021 Aug;15(4):896-905. doi: 10.1111/eip.13031. Epub 2020 Sep 9.
To determine whether interleukin 18 (IL-18) is elevated in the blood of schizophrenia (SCZ) and first episode psychosis patients, as well as investigate whether this potential relationship is causal.
We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of IL-18 levels in the blood of SCZ patients, comprising of both chronic and first episode psychosis (FEP) cohorts. To investigate causality, we undertook the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study.
A total of eight studies were included in our meta-analysis, our results did indeed show an association between elevated levels of IL-18 and SCZ compared to healthy controls (Z = 3.50, P = .0005). This association remained significant in subsequent subgroup analyses for chronic (Z = 3.15, P = .002) and achieved borderline significance in FEP (Z = 1.93, P = .05) SCZ. Our MR analysis failed to detect any causal relationship between IL-18 levels and SCZ.
The results of our study demonstrate that even though IL-18 levels are elevated in SCZ patients, IL-18 levels do not seem to cause of the disorder itself. Our findings suggest that IL-18 may have utility as a biomarker of SCZ and aid in research into the early intervention of the disease.
确定白细胞介素 18 (IL-18) 是否在精神分裂症 (SCZ) 和首发精神病患者的血液中升高，并探讨这种潜在的关系是否具有因果关系。
我们对 SCZ 患者血液中 IL-18 水平进行了系统评价和荟萃分析，包括慢性和首发精神病 (FEP) 队列。为了研究因果关系，我们进行了两样本 Mendelian 随机化 (MR) 研究。
共有 8 项研究纳入我们的荟萃分析，结果确实表明与健康对照组相比，IL-18 水平升高与 SCZ 之间存在关联（Z=3.50，P=0.0005）。在慢性 SCZ （Z=3.15，P=0.002）和 FEP （Z=1.93，P=0.05）的亚组分析中，这种关联仍然显著。我们的 MR 分析未能检测到 IL-18 水平与 SCZ 之间存在任何因果关系。
我们的研究结果表明，尽管 SCZ 患者的 IL-18 水平升高，但 IL-18 水平似乎不会导致该疾病本身。我们的研究结果表明，IL-18 可能作为 SCZ 的生物标志物具有一定的效用，并有助于研究该疾病的早期干预。
