Aim: To determine concentration of T helper (Th(1)) cytokines and Th(2) cytokines in patients with acute exacerbation of schizophrenia and compare the cytokine profiles between subtypes of schizophrenia.
Method: One hundred inpatients with acute exacerbation of schizophrenia and 34 matched healthy subjects from the same population without psychiatric history were included in the study. According to predominant symptom complexes the patients were divided into three subgroups: hallucinations and delusions (n=36); disorganized behavior (n=33), and primary, enduring negative or deficit symptoms (n=31). In vitro IFN-gamma and IL-4 secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells after stimulation with ionomycin and phorbol 12 myristate 13 acetate was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests.
Results: Significant increase in in vitro secretion of IFN-gamma (21,505 vs 14,915 pg/mL; P=0.037; independent samples t test) and IL-4 (32 vs 15 pg/mL; P<0.001) with a shift to the Th(2) (1,022 vs 1,432 pg/mL; P=0.005) immune response was observed in patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. We found pronounced effects of age and age at first hospitalisation on the Th(1)/Th(2) immune balance (R(2)=0.068; P=0.037). There were no significant differences in in vitro secretion of IFN-gamma (P=0.734; one-way analysis of variance), IL-4 (P=0.485) and IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratio (P=0.293) between the subgroups of patients with schizophrenia.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate a simultaneous increase of in vitro reactivity of both Th(1) and Th(2) arm of cell mediated immunity, with a relative predominance of Th(2) immunity in patients with acute exacerbation of schizophrenia.