title: Increased interleukin-2 serum levels were associated with psychopathological symptoms and cognitive deficits in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
abstract: Accumulating evidence showed that interleukin-2 (IL-2) may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Increased IL-2 levels have been found in the serum of schizophrenia patients with mixed results. In the present study, we assessed serum IL-2 levels in a large group of 160 schizophrenia patients compared to 60 healthy control subjects matched for age and gender. The schizophrenia symptomatology was assessed by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and serum IL-2 levels were measured by sandwich ELISA. The results showed that IL-2 levels were significantly higher in chronic patients with schizophrenia than in healthy control subjects (p<0.001). Correlation analysis revealed a significantly negative association between IL-2 levels and the PANSS cognitive and positive subscales (both p<0.01). Stepwise multiple regression analyses confirmed IL-2 as the influencing factor for the cognitive and positive subscales of the PANSS. Our findings suggested that increased IL-2 may be involved in the cognitive impairments and psychopathology of chronic schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yunlong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shuping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhiren
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Fu-De
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Giovana B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Zunta-Soares
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jair C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: xiang.y.zhang@uth.tmc.edu.
authors.forename: Xiang Yang
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; C508594:IL2 protein, human; D007376:Interleukin-2
keywords: Clinical symptom; Cytokines; Immune; Interleukin 2; Schizophrenia