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Expression analysis of cytokine coding genes in blood samples of clozapine‐treated patients with schizophrenia
Author(s) -
Eftekharian Mohammad Mahdi,
Komaki Alireza,
Omrani Mir Davood,
ArsangJang Shahram,
Ganji Maziar,
Taheri Mohammad,
GhaforuiFard Soudeh
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
clinical and experimental neuroimmunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 15
ISSN - 1759-1961
DOI - 10.1111/cen3.12531
Subject(s) - cytokine , clozapine , chemokine , pathogenesis , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , medicine , immune system , tumor necrosis factor alpha , psychosis , interleukin 6 , antipsychotic , transforming growth factor , immunology , psychiatry
Objectives Dysregulation of peripheral immune responses has been detected in schizophrenic patients. Cytokines as the main regulators of immunological processes are also involved in brain development, which supports their putative role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Methods In the present study, we compared transcript levels of interleukin ( IL ) ‐1 , IL ‐2 , IL ‐6 , chemokine (C‐X‐C) ligand 8 ( CXCL 8 ), transforming growth factor‐β ( TGF ‐β ) and tumor necrosis factor‐α ( TNF ‐α ) in the blood of 50 schizophrenic patients and 50 healthy participants. Results IL ‐6 transcript levels were significantly higher in male participants compared with female participants ( P = 0.005). TGF ‐β transcript levels were significantly higher in patients compared with healthy participants ( P = 0.001). In addition, there was a significant difference in its expression between cases and controls based on the sex of the participants. TNF ‐α transcript levels were higher in male schizophrenic patients ( P = 0.007) and in female patients aged <50 years compared with the age‐ and sex‐matched healthy participants ( P = 0.048). Transcript levels of other cytokines were not significantly different between cases and controls, which might be due to the effects of antipsychotic treatment in patients. Conclusion The present study provides further evidence for abnormal transcript levels of cytokines in schizophrenic patients, as well as distinct regulation of cytokine expression in women and men.