Lymphocyte‐related ratios in methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder in Taiwan, comparing with patients with schizophrenia

Abstract

AbstractThe lymphocyte‐related ratios, neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are new measures of inflammation within the body. Few studies have investigated the inflammatory response of patients with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder. Clinically, the psychotic symptoms and behavioural manifestation of methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder are often indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia. We aimed to determine the differences in these inflammatory markers between patients with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder, patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. A total of 905 individuals were recruited. The NLR and MLR were found to be higher in both patients with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorders and patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls. There was no significant difference between the three groups in PLR. When compared with the control group, the methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder group was significantly higher in NLR 27% (95%CI = 11 to 46%, p = 0.001), MLR 16% (95%CI = 3% to 31%, p = 0.013) and PLR 16% (95%CI = 5% to 28%, p = 0.005). NLR of the group with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder was 17% (95%CI = 73% to 94%, p = 0.004) less than the group with schizophrenia, while MLR and PLR did not differ significantly between the two groups. This is the first study that investigated the lymphocyte‐related ratios in methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder when compared with patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals. The results showed that both patients with methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder and patients with schizophrenia had stronger inflammatory responses than the healthy control. Our finding also indicated that the inflammatory response of methamphetamine‐induced psychotic disorder was between those of patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals.