The present study aims at comparing the change in cytokine levels in schizophrenia patients treated with atypical antipsychotics, with or without metabolic syndrome (MetS). The study included 101 patients with schizophrenia, 38 with and 63 without MetS, who received risperidone, quetiapine, olanzapine or aripiprazole for six weeks. We analyzed the concentration of 21 cytokines in the serum patients. The treatment with atypical antipsychotics changed some proinflammatory cytokine levels. It led to increased IFN-α2 (p = 0.010), IL-1α (p = 0.024) and IL-7 (p = 0.017) levels in patients with MetS, whereas the same treatment led to decreased levels of IFN-γ (p = 0.011), IL-1β (p = 0.035), IL-12р40 (p = 0.011), IL-17A (p = 0.031), IL-6 (p = 0.043) and TNF-α (p = 0.012) in individuals without MetS. Our results demonstrated the effects of atypical antipsychotics on the immune–inflammatory parameters, depending on the metabolic disturbances in schizophrenia patients.

Background: Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder with a high heritability. Dysfunction of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptors may be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. In this study, we examined the contribution of GRIN2A and GRIN2B (Glutamate Ionotropic Receptor NMDA Type Subunit 2A/2B) polymorphisms to the clinical features of schizophrenia, such as the leading symptoms, the type of course, and the age of onset. Methods: A population of 402 Russian patients with schizophrenia from the Siberian region was investigated. Genotyping of seventeen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GRIN2A and GRIN2B was performed using QuantStudio™ 3D Digital PCR System Life Technologies amplifier using TaqMan Validated SNP Genotyping Assay kits (Applied Biosystems). The results were analyzed using Chi-square and the Fisher’s exact tests. Results: We found an association of GRIN2A rs7206256 and rs11644461 and GRIN2B rs7313149 with the early onset (before the age of 18 years old) schizophrenia. We did not reveal any associations of GRIN2A and GRIN2B polymorphisms with leading (positive vs. negative) symptoms or type of course (continuous vs. episodic) of schizophrenia. Conclusions: In the study, we confirmed the involvement of the GRIN2A and GRIN2B genes in the early onset of schizophrenia in a Russian population of the Siberian region.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a common problem in schizophrenia patients and associated with increased mortality due to cardiovascular disease. Second generation antipsychotics (SGAs) play an important role in facilitating MetS. Objective: The study aimed to assess weight changes and alterations of indicators of body fat composition and lipid-glucose metabolism induced by reinitiating atypical antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia when with or without metabolic syndrome. Methods: After giving Informed Consent, newly admitted patients with a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia (ICD-10: F20) and an age between 18 and 55 years were included. MetS was diagnosed according to International Diabetes Federation (IDF)-criteria. At entry and after 6 weeks of treatment anthropometry and biochemical analysis was carried out. Total and visceral fat were measured with the use of non-invasive bioimpedance analysis and subcutaneous fat with calculation of total adipose tissue with the use of caliperometry. Based on biochemical assessments low density (LDL) and very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), atherogenic index and Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (IR–HOMA) were calculated. Statistical analysis was conducted using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann-Whitney U-test, Chi-squared test. Differences were considered statistically significant at p<0.05. Results: A total of 114 patients (59M/55F) with schizophrenia were examined; they were divided into two groups with (n=43; 37.7%) and without (n=71; 62.3%) MetS. After a 6-weeks SGA-treatment only the total fat fold, waist circumference, triglyceride level and atherogenic index underwent statistically significant changes in patients with MetS. In those without MetS statistically significant changes across all fat indicators were noted. Also, a significant increase in blood glucose and HOMA-IR parameters, triglyceride and VLDL levels and atherogenic index was observed in this group. Discussion: The study illustrates the benefits of estimating both anthropometric and biochemical parameters shortly after (re)installing treatment of schizophrenia in order to minimize the risk of MetS development.

In this study, we aim to investigate associations between body fat parameters, glucose and lipid profiles, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and thyroid hormones (THs) levels in Tomsk-region schizophrenia patients depending upon the presence or absence of metabolic syndrome (MetS). A total of 156 psychiatric inpatients with schizophrenia who had been treated with antipsychotics for at least six months before entry were studied: 56 with and 100 without MetS. Reference groups consisted of general hospital inpatients with MetS and without schizophrenia (n = 35) and healthy individuals (n = 35). Statistical analyses were performed using the Mann–Whitney U-test, chi-square test, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, multiple regression analyses, and descriptive statistics. Patients with schizophrenia and MetS had significantly higher levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3) and thyroxine (FT4) compared to schizophrenia patients without MetS (3.68 [3.25; 5.50] vs. 3.24 [2.81; 3.66], p = 0.0001, and 12.68 [10.73; 15.54] vs. 10.81 [9.76; 12.3], p = 0.0001, in pmol/L, respectively). FT3 maintained an association with MetS (p = 0.0001), sex (p = 0.0001), age (p = 0.022), and high-density lipoproteins (p = 0.033). FT4 maintained an association with MetS (p = 0.0001), sex (p = 0.001), age (p = 0.014), and glucose (p = 0.009). The data obtained showed body fat parameters, glucose and lipid profiles, and THs levels in Western-Siberian schizophrenia patients depending on MetS presence or absence.

Objective.The authors tried to identify the typology, severity and overlap of neurocognitive deficits with positive/negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.Materials and methods.Fifty patients aged 22–55 years (25 women (50%) and 25 men (50%)) with schizophrenia diagnosed according to ICD-10 were examined. The average age was 38.0 ± 4.8 years, the average age of onset was 23 ± 3.2 years, the average disease duration was 15 ± 3.7 years. The patients were examined using battery tests to quantify their cognitive functions: Trail Making Test A&B; Stroop Color Word Interference Test; Verbal Fluency; Benton Visual Retention Test; 10 words learning; WAIS Digit Symbol Test; and WAIS Trail Making Test. The evaluation of cognitive deficits was carried out using z-scales. Association of neurocognitive deficits with other schizophrenia symptoms was also estimated using PANSS. The control group that was formed on the basis of the cognitive sphere parameters included 50 healthy volunteers. Statistical processing was carried out using the Mann–Whitney U test, k-means clustering, and the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance.Results.The patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals had significant differences in the second part of the Stroop Color Word Interference Test, both parts of the Verbal Fluency, average score of Benton Visual Retention Test, 10 words learning basedon 5 reiterations, WAIS Digit Symbol Test and WAIS Trail Making Test withp< 0.05; in the Trail Making Test B withp< 0.01. The cognitive sampling profile was determined and compared with the PANSS scores. The significant predominance (p< 0.05) of the symptoms across all scales was found with impaired attention, visual memory, performance function, and/or orientation/coordination, as opposed to the other manifestations of cognitive deficits.Conclusion.Neurocognitive deficits form syndromal overlaps with positive and negative schizophrenia syndromes, and the presence of attention, visual memory, performance and orientation / coordination disturbances is associated with the severity of schizophrenia in general.

The paper is devoted to the extension of the intelligent systems complex for express-diagnostics consisting of express-diagnostics systems of organizational stress (DIOS), depression (DIAPROD), and de