Abolghasem Ajami; Farshideh Abedian; Seyyed Hamzeh Hosseini; Elahe Akbarian; Reza Alizadeh-Navaei; Mehrdad Taghipour
Volume 11, Issue 3 , September 2014, , Pages 200-209
Abstract
Background: Schizophrenia is a disorder of the executive function of both sensory and central nervous system. Recent studies suggest that immune mechanisms play a role in the pathophysiology of this disease. The variations in cytokine concentrations have been associated with psychopathology and treatment ...
Read More
Background: Schizophrenia is a disorder of the executive function of both sensory and central nervous system. Recent studies suggest that immune mechanisms play a role in the pathophysiology of this disease. The variations in cytokine concentrations have been associated with psychopathology and treatment of schizophrenia. Objective: To investigate the changes in serum concentrations of TNF- α, IL-10, and IL-2 in schizophrenic patients before and 40 days after treatment. Methods: In a case-control study, 26 schizophrenic patients and 26 healthy individuals were enrolled as the control group. PANSS scale questionnaire was used for diagnosis and assessing the severity of the disease. All patients were then treated with risperidone or clozapine for 40 days. Serum concentrations of TNF- α, IL-10 and IL-2 were measured by ELISA before and after treatment in both groups. Paired t-test and Independent t-test were used for comparison of data. Results: Comparison of TNF-α and IL-10 concentrations in patients before and after treatment revealed a significance decrease of TNF- α and increase of IL-10 concentrations (p=0.002, and p=0.008, respectively). Serum concentrations of IL-2 were lower than the detection limit of assay and were not detectable. In comparison with healthy controls, serum concentrations of TNF- α in schizophrenic patients were higher, while IL-10 concentrations were lower before treatment although the differences were not significant (p=0.291 and p=0.375, respectively). There was no correlation between cytokine concentrations and the positive and negative scale (PANSS). Also no significant difference in the admission, relapses, and duration of illness before and after treatment was observed. Conclusions: Increase of TNF- α and decrease of IL-10 may have an important role inpsychopathology of schizophrenia.
Hedieh Matloubi; Mohammad Vodjgani; Abbass Ali Nasehi; Mohammad Hossein Niknam; Anoushirvan Kazemnejad; Eisa Salehi; Tahereh Aboufazeli; Zahra Gheflati
Volume 4, Issue 1 , March 2007, , Pages 32-37
Abstract
Background: Apart from genetic and environmental factors, activation of autoreactive mechanisms has been proposed to play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. In re-cent years, considerable work has been carried out to understand the role and contribution of the immune system in this disease. ...
Read More
Background: Apart from genetic and environmental factors, activation of autoreactive mechanisms has been proposed to play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. In re-cent years, considerable work has been carried out to understand the role and contribution of the immune system in this disease. Objective: To investigate the T cell response to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and determine the serum levels of anti-nuclear antibody (ANA), anti-cytoplasmic antibody (ACA), and circulating immune complexes (CIC) in schizophrenic patients. Methods: A total of 30 drug-free schizophrenic patients and 42 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. T cell proliferation in response to PHA was measured using Methyl Thiazol Tetrazolium test. ANA and ACA were measured by indi-rect immunofluorescence. CIC concentration was determined using poly ethylene glycol precipitation assay. Results: Mean PHA response was 1.96 ± 0.83 in patients and 3.72±1.39 in healthy controls (p < 0.001). ANA and CIC concentrations were not signifi-cantly different between two groups. In addition, ACA was detected only in patients. Conclusion: Increased production of ACA together with lower T cell response to mito-gens in our patients provides evidence for the involvement of autoimmune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.
Mohammad Vodjgani; Hedieh Matloubi; Abbas Ali Nasehi; Mohammad Hossein Niknam; Anoushirvan Kazemnejad; Eisa Salehi; Tahereh Aboufazeli; Zahra Gheflati
Volume 2, Issue 2 , June 2005, , Pages 111-116
Abstract
Background: Schizophrenia has been associated with altered immunity. Different studies regarding natural killer cell activity (NKA) in schizophrenic patients have shown inconsistent results. Objectives: To evaluate NK cell activity in schizophrenic patients in comparison with healthy control individuals. ...
Read More
Background: Schizophrenia has been associated with altered immunity. Different studies regarding natural killer cell activity (NKA) in schizophrenic patients have shown inconsistent results. Objectives: To evaluate NK cell activity in schizophrenic patients in comparison with healthy control individuals. Methods: 30 medication-free schizophrenic patients and 41 healthy sex, age and smoking status matched individuals were included in this study. NK cell activity of case and control subjects was measured by Methyl-Thiazol-Tetrazolium (MTT) test. Statistical analysis of the data was done using SPSS 11.5 software. Results: NK activity of patients and normal subjects had a mean of 36.94 ± 26.15 (Mean ± SD) and 22.31 ± 17.92, respectively. A significant increase in NK activity in schizophrenic patients compared to controls (P = 0.011). Among patients, NK activity of smokers was significantly lower than that of non-smokers (P = 0.02). Other demographic factors didn't show any influence on NK activity. Conclusion: The higher activity of NK cells in the schizophrenic patients as compared with the control population could explain the low incidence of cancer in these patients. Decreasing the effect of smoking on NK activity in the patients could be one of the responsible factors for the inconsistency in the results of different studies.
