Plasma S-100B protein in Chinese patients with schizophrenia: comparison with healthy controls and effect of antipsychotics treatment.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the possibility that structural damage to the brain may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia by measuring the level of plasma S-100B, a calcium-binding protein found predominantly in the cytosol of glial cells.


METHODS
Fifty-seven Chinese psychiatric inpatients who met DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia and 60 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Patients were assessed with the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) at admission and at 12 weeks after treatment. Plasma samples were collected from patients and controls and S-100B protein was assayed using ELISA.


RESULTS
(1) 29 of 57 patients (50.9%) showed increased S-100B level compared to the mean level of 60 healthy controls (p<0.005) vs. only 1 of 60 (1.67%) controls. The S-100B levels of unmedicated (0.119+/-0.059microg/L) and medicated patients (0.117+/-.0.057microg/L) were significantly higher than controls (0.067+/-0.022microg/L, both p<0.001), and S-100B levels of unmedicated patients were higher than those of medicated patients (p=0.024); (2) at admission, S-100B level was positively correlated with total score of PANSS (r=0.269, p=0.043), especially with negative subscore of PANSS (r=0.306, p=0.021), but the correlation was no longer present after patients were treated by anti-psychotic agents.


CONCLUSIONS
The S-100B levels of patients with schizophrenia are significantly higher than that of healthy controls, and the S-100B level is associated with severity of psychopathology, particularly negative symptoms, indicating that patients with schizophrenia may suffer structural damage to central nervous system. The concentration of S-100B may also be associated with treatment progress.
Ling
Si-hai
SH
Beijing Anding Hospital affiliated to Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Tang
Yi-lang
YL
Jiang
Feng
F
Wiste
Anna
A
Guo
Shi-shi
SS
Weng
Yong-zhen
YZ
Yang
Tie-Sheng
TS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D044466:Asian People; D003024:Clozapine / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D018967:Risperidone / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D064568:S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta Subunit; D009418:S100 Proteins; D003024:Clozapine; D018967:Risperidone