Altered levels of cytokine, T- and B-lymphocytes, and PD-1 expression rates in drug- naïve schizophrenia patients with acute phase

Abstract

Abstract Background Altered immune function in patients with schizophrenia has been of great interest, and although many studies have explored the changes in peripheral immune cell levels in patients with acute-phase, relatively few studies have addressed the functional phenotype of immune cells and expression rates of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/ programmed cell death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1). The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of immune cells activation, PD-1/PD-1 expressions, and altered cytokine levels in drug-naïve schizophrenia patients with acute-phase. Methods Drug-naïve schizophrenia patients in acute-phase and healthy individuals were enrolled in this study as experimental and control groups, separately. Socio-demographic information including gender, age, duration of illness, and smoking status was collected for each subject. The percentage of T-, B-, and natural killer (NK)-cells, as well as their expressions of PD-1/PD-L1, and the levels of cytokines including interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10, were examined. Results Drug-naïve schizophrenia patients in acute-phase had higher levels of peripheral blood CD4 + T cells and B cells, higher PD-1 expression in B cells, and lower levels of CD8 + T cells. In addition, IL-6 levels of peripheral blood were higher in schizophrenia patients (all P < 0.05). Conclusions Significant immune stress was present in schizophrenia patients with acute-phase.