Pretreatment Serum MCP-1 Level Predicts Response to Risperidone in Schizophrenia

Background Schizophrenia is a chronic debilitating disease. The pathogenesis and treatment may be associated with inflammatory cytokines. There are few studies focusing on the prediction of cytokines in response to antipsychotics. Aim To investigate whether cytokines would predict response to antipsychotics. Methods Cross-sectional and natural observational cohort studies were applied to:(1) compare the baseline levels of serum IL-1β, TNF-α and MCP-1 between schizophrenia (n=64) and healthy controls (n=53); (2) To investigate the impact of baseline cytokines to psychopathology following olanzapine and risperidone monotherapy. Results (1) Baseline MCP-1 level of patients with schizophrenia was significantly higher than healthy controls (t=2.62, p=0.010), while no significance was found in IL-1β (t=1.43, p=0.154) and TNF-α (t=0.79, p=0.434); (2) Pretreatment level of MCP-1 significantly correlated with PANSS-G reduction following 4 weeks' of risperidone monotherapy (r =-0.658; p<0.001) but not olanzapine monotherapy (r =-0.031; p=0.855); (3) Further stepwise multiple linear regression analysis indicated that higher MCP-1 level prior to treatment was a significant predictor of less PANSS-G reduction in schizophrenia patients following risperidone monotherapy (adjusted R2= 0.409, β = -0.658, p <0.001), but not in the olanzapine group. Conclusion MCP-1 may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Pretreatment level of MCP-1 may serve as a biomarker indicating response to risperidone treatment.