Comparing the Effects of Adjunct Aspirin and Simvastatin on Psychopathology among Inpatients with Schizophrenia

Objectives: As a severe mental health condition, schizophrenia presents a chronic and complex clinical manifestation and neuropathology. A large body of literature exists on the pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia. However, evidence on some dimensions of such interventions (e.g., eligible candidates, potential predicting factors of the therapeutic outcomes, safe implementation of these interventions, etc.) are notably scarce. Studies revealed superior influences of adjunct statin therapy, in comparison to placebo among patients with schizophrenia. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of aspirin and simvastatin as adjunctive therapy, compared to placebo on positive and negative symptoms and general psychopathology among patients with schizophrenia. Methods: This is a double blind randomized clinical trial. The sample size was estimated to be 15 individuals for each one of the three research groups (N=45). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) were employed to collect the necessary data in the present study. Besides, patients admitted to the psychiatric wards of Razi Hospital were identified. The study subjects were randomly divided into the test group and control group. All groups were initially treated with risperidone 0-4 mg daily for 3 weeks. Then, group A received a daily dose of 650 mg (325 mg twice daily) aspirin whereas group B was prescribed with 40 mg/d of simvastatin. However, the controls received placebo. Psychiatric symptoms were recorded according to the PANSS at the beginning of the study as well as weeks 4 and 8. The obtained results were analyzed using inferential statistics, including repeated-measures Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and descriptive statistics in SPSS. Results: Of the 45 patients, 35(77.78%) were males (mean±SD age: 45.8±10.5 years) and 10(22.23%) were females (mean±SD age: 42.3±7.8 years). The mean scores of the positive symptoms of PANSS significantly decreased in the groups treated with aspirin and simvastatin (P=0.006 & P=0.005, in sequence); however, there was no such difference in the controls (P=0.447). Furthermore, the mean scores of the negative symptoms of PANSS significantly decreased in the intervention groups (P<0.001); however, there was no such difference in the same values increased in the controls after the end of the research program (P=0.18). In addition, the mean scores of the general symptoms of PANSS significantly decreased in the aspirin and simvastatin groups (P<0.001). There was an increase in the same value in the controls; however, such increase was not statistically significant (P=0.31). Finally, while the total mean scores of the PANSS increased in the control group (P=0.25), the same scores significantly decreased in the test groups receiving aspirin and simvastatin (P<0.001). Discussion: The present study results indicated that aspirin and simvastatin could alone reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia, including general psychopathology, negative symptoms, and positive symptoms in the explored patients; however, the effectiveness of both drugs was similar and no significant difference was detected between these medications in reducing the symptoms mentioned above.