Department of Psychiatry, The Fourth People's Hospital of Lianyungang, The Affiliated KangDa College of Nanjing Medical University, 222003, Lianyungang, P.R. China.
Suzhou Psychiatric Hospital, Institute of Mental Health, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, 215137, Suzhou, P.R. China.
BMC Psychiatry. 2024 Mar 1;24(1):173. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05621-6.
Inflammation has an important role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) in male patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) and chronic medicated schizophrenia (CMS), and the relationship with psychopathology.
The study enrolled 31 TRS and 49 cm male patients, and 53 healthy controls. Serum MMP-2 and TNF-α levels were measured by the Luminex liquid suspension chip detection method. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores were used to evaluate symptom severity and Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status was used to assess cognitive function.
Serum TNF-α and MMP-2 levels differed significantly between TRS, CMS and healthy control patients (F = 4.289, P = 0.016; F = 4.682, P = 0.011, respectively). Bonferroni correction demonstrated that serum TNF-α levels were significantly elevated in CMS patients (P = 0.022) and MMP-2 levels were significantly higher in TRS patients (P = 0.014) compared to healthy controls. In TRS patients, TNF-α was negatively correlated with age (r=-0.435, P = 0.015) and age of onset (r=-0.409, P = 0.022). In CMS patients, MMP-2 and TNF-α were negatively correlated with PANSS negative and total scores, and TNF-α was negatively correlated with PANSS general psychopathology scores (all P < 0.05). MMP-2 levels were positively correlated with TNF-α levels (P < 0.05), but not with cognitive function (P > 0.05).
The results indicate the involvement of inflammation in the etiology of TRS and CMS. Further studies are warranted.
炎症在精神分裂症的发病机制中起着重要作用。本研究旨在探讨男性治疗抵抗性精神分裂症（TRS）和慢性药物治疗精神分裂症（CMS）患者肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）和基质金属蛋白酶-2（MMP-2）的水平及其与精神病理学的关系。
本研究纳入了 31 例 TRS 和 49 例男性 CMS 患者，以及 53 例健康对照者。采用 Luminex 液相悬浮芯片检测法测定血清 MMP-2 和 TNF-α 水平。采用阳性和阴性综合征量表（PANSS）评分评估症状严重程度，采用重复性成套神经心理状态测验（RBANS）评估认知功能。
TRS、CMS 和健康对照组患者的血清 TNF-α 和 MMP-2 水平差异有统计学意义（F=4.289，P=0.016；F=4.682，P=0.011）。Bonferroni 校正后显示，CMS 组患者血清 TNF-α 水平显著升高（P=0.022），TRS 组患者 MMP-2 水平显著升高（P=0.014）。在 TRS 患者中，TNF-α 与年龄（r=-0.435，P=0.015）和发病年龄（r=-0.409，P=0.022）呈负相关。在 CMS 患者中，MMP-2 和 TNF-α 与 PANSS 阴性和总分呈负相关，TNF-α 与 PANSS 一般精神病学评分呈负相关（均 P<0.05）。MMP-2 水平与 TNF-α 水平呈正相关（P<0.05），但与认知功能无关（P>0.05）。
结果表明炎症参与了 TRS 和 CMS 的发病机制。需要进一步研究。
