Cytokine Level Changes in Schizophrenia Patients with and without Metabolic Syndrome Treated with Atypical Antipsychotics

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.