Investigation of immunological parameters in patients with first-episode-psychosis

INTRODUCTION: Schizophrenia and disorders in this spectrum are psychiatric disorders that start at a young age, impair the perception of the person, the system of thought, emotion and cognitive functions, cause a person to move away from and become locked away from relationships. Studies of the etiology of diseases have been both biological and psychosocial, since they were first defined by Kraepelin and Bleuler about a hundred years ago. Current approaches are that immunologic and autoimmune factors play a role in the etiology and course of the disease. OBJECTIVES: This study was planned to investigate the immunologic baseline of first-episode psychosis patients, to determine their association with symptom content and severity, and to identify markers for prognostic-predictive screening. Patients with first episode psychosis; monitoring of immunologic differences according to the healthy control group, observation of whether the immunologic markers of interest have made a difference in terms of symptom severity, so as to carry out a preliminary study for the follow-up of the same or different disease groups and more extensive researches. METHOD: 29 patients with short-term psychotic disorder or schizophreniform disorder according to DSM-IV and 25 healthy controls were studied. Once volunteer approvals were received, SCID-1 structured interview was performed for diagnostic validation, PANSS and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale was applied for disease severity. Blood was taken for the immunological parameters to be worked after the interviews, and the blood was delivered to the laboratories to be worked on by the interviewer within the same hour. RESULTS : No statistically significant difference was found between the patient and control groups in terms of age, gender, duration of education, study status and marital status. The mean age of the patient group was 34.2 years, with an average of 6 months between the onset of symptoms and the treatment application, and the income level was lower. Mean PANSS Positive Symptoms subscale score 29,32 ± 5,25; PANSS Negative Symptoms subscale score 25,13 ± 6,31; PANSS General Psychopathology subscale score was 42,75 ± 8,78; Total score of PANSS was 97.2 ± 11.15 and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale score was 49.75 ± 13.11. Levels of sensitive CRP, Ferritin, Serum Amyloid A, IgG, IgM, IgA, C4, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Anti-Tiroglogulin (Anti-T) and Anti Thyrooperoxidase (Anti-M) levels were significantly different. Again, BPRS total score with Copper, Vitamin A and Vitamin E levels, PANSS Positive Symptoms Sub-Scale score with Serum Amyloid A and Anti Thyroglobulin levels, PANSS Negative Symptoms Sub-Scale with Serum Amyloid A and Sensitive CRP, PANSS Total score Anti Thyroglobulin antibody was found to be significantly correlated with. CONCLUSİON : Our study found significant differences in immunological parameters between first-episode psychosis patients and healthy controls. Some of these differences are also correlated with clinical symptoms. Similar studies may reveal relationships with endophenotypes and immunological parameters.