فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: Various factors, including genetic, psychological, environmental, and immune dysfunction, may contribute to susceptibility to schizophrenia. Due to several reports regarding abnormal cytokine production, abnormal cytokine concentrations and their receptors in peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid, activation of the inflammatory response system, and altered levels of different cytokines in acute schizophrenia have been studied in recent years. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-23 levels in schizophrenic patients versus those of healthy controls. Results: Serum IL-23 levels of schizophrenic patients were significantly higher (696 ± 132 pg/mL) than those of the control subjects (313 ± 33 pg/mL) (P = 0.007). Serum IL-6 levels of the schizophrenic patients were also significantly higher than those of the controls (5.28 ± 1.1 and 2.54 ± 0.32 pg/mL, respectively; P = 0.01). Conclusions: These findings indicate that immune system activation might be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.