Potential role between inflammatory cytokines and Tie-2 receptor levels and clinical symptoms in patients with first-episode schizophrenia

Abstract

Abstract Background Schizophrenia (SCZ) is associated with chronic low-grade inflammation, which may be involved in the underlying pathological mechanism of the disease and may influence patient prognosis. We evaluated the differences in serum cytokine and Tie-2 receptor levels between patients with first-episode SCZ and healthy controls and explored the correlation thereof with clinical symptoms. Methods Seventy-six participants were recruited for the present study, including 40 patients with first-episode SCZ and 36 healthy controls. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores, demographic data, and blood samples were collected at baseline. A hypersensitive Meso Scale Discovery (MSD) electrochemiluminescence assay system was used to measure cytokine and Tie-2 receptor levels. Spearman’s correlation and stepwise linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results Serum interleukin-1β and -4 levels were significantly increased, and Tie-2 levels were significantly decreased, in first-episode SCZ patients as compared to healthy controls. IL-1β levels were positively correlated with total BPRS scores, resistance subscores, and PANSS positive subscores. Furthermore, IL-1β levels were negatively correlated with Tie-2 receptor expression levels. Stepwise linear regression analysis demonstrated that IL-1β levels correlated positively with PANSS positive subscores and BPRS total scores. PANSS negative subscores, general psychopathology subscores, and PANSS total scores had positive effects on the Tie-2 receptor. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that IL-1β and Tie-2 were highly sensitive and specific for predicting first-episode SCZ symptoms and achieving an area under the ROC curve of 0.8361 and 0.6462, respectively. Conclusion Our results showed that patients with first-episode SCZ have low-grade inflammation. IL-1β and Tie-2 receptors may be important mediators between inflammation and vascular dysfunction in patients with SCZ and may underlie the increased cardiovascular disease in this population. Trial registration The clinical trial registration date was 06/11/2018, registration number was chiCTR1800019343.