Peripheral Non-enzymatic Antioxidants in Patients with Schizophrenia：A Case-control Study

Abstract Background: Recent studies show that oxidative stress is associated with the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. There are two major types of antioxidant systems in vivo, namely enzymatic antioxidants and non-enzymatic antioxidants. This study investigated differences of non-enzymatic antioxidant between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Methods: Peripheral UA, ALB and TBIL of 107 schizophrenic patients in acute stage and 101 in remission stage were measured respectively, so were 273 healthy controls. Results: The levels of UA ( P =0.020) and TBIL ( P <0.001) of schizophrenic patients in acute stage were higher than those of healthy controls, while the level of ALB ( P <0.001) was lower. Similar results were detected form schizophrenic patients in remission stage. Schizophrenic patients in acute stage were divided into antipsychotics-use subgroup (n=56) and antipsychotics-naïve/free subgroup (n=51). The level of UA ( P =0.001) in antipsychotics-use subgroup was higher than that in antipsychotics-naïve/free subgroup, while the level of TBIL ( P =0.002) was lower than that in antipsychotics-naïve/free subgroup. 77 schizophrenic patients in acute stage were followed up, and there was no significant difference in level of UA before and after treatment, but levels of ALB ( P <0.001) and TBIL ( P <0.001) decreased significantly after the treatment. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the dysfunction of peripheral non-enzymatic anti-oxidation system might be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Keywords: Schizophrenia; Uric acid; Albumin; Total bilirubin