Correlation of the metabolic syndrome with IL-27 in schizophrenia patients

Growing evidence suggests that antipsychotic drugs affect the level of cytokines and metabolic syndrome parameters in schizophrenic patients. The present study aimed to investigate the serum markers of metabolic syndrome, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride (TG), fasting blood sugar (FBS),total cholesterol, and insulin, and interleukin-27 (IL-27) in the patients with schizophrenia and compared the levels with healthy subjects.  In this cross-sectional study, the serum level of IL-27 was measured in 45 patients with schizophrenia and 45 healthy subjects using the ELISA. In addition, the markers of metabolic syndrome were measured in Dr. Salehi Laboratory in Yasouj, Iran. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 21.  A significant increase was observed in IL-27 in the patients with schizophrenia (P= 0.043) compared to the healthy controls. Evaluation of the risk factors of metabolic syndrome in schizophrenic patients compared to the controls indicated no significant differences in the body mass index (P=0.764), systolic blood pressure (P=0.670), diastolic blood pressure (P=0.216), total cholesterol (P=0.103), TG (P=0.097), and LDL (P=0.255). However, the serum levels of HDL (P=0.012) and insulin (P=0.001) significantly decreased and increased, respectively in schizophrenic patients compared to the controls. Moreover, a strong, positive correlation was observed between the levels of insulin and LDL andIL-27, with the correlation-coefficients of 0.312 and 0.641, respectively. A negative correlation was also denoted between IL-27 and HDL with the correlation-coefficient of -0.413 (P=0.005). The associations between IL-27 and the other markers of metabolic syndrome were not considered significant.  According to the results, changes in IL-27 may affect the Pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Antipsychotic therapy has been reported to increase the serum levels of IL-27, which in turn exacerbate and increase the incidence of metabolic disorders.