Assessment of serum interleukin 6 in a sample of Egyptian patients with schizophrenia

Inflammation has been demonstrated to play a pathophysiological function in schizophrenia. Raised interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels have been the most consistently linked to schizophrenia. It was hypothesized that IL-6 contributed to the development of both adverse and beneficial symptoms. The aim of the study was to estimate the level of serum IL-6 in patients with schizophrenia and its relation to positive in addition to negative symptoms. This case–control descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 40 patients, divided into two groups: 20 individuals in Group A (patients group) were treatment-naive for their first episode of schizophrenia, and 20 volunteers in Group B (control group) were matched for gender and age to the patient group. Both groups were evaluated for their serum interleukin-6 levels using the ELISA method. Patients and controls were recruited from the Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, and Ain Shams University Hospitals. Cases with schizophrenia who were experiencing their first episode and had not yet begun any form of therapy had a considerably higher mean serum IL-6 level compared to the healthy control group. The level of serum interleukin 6 in first-episode treatment-naïve individuals with schizophrenia is higher than that of healthy controls, revealing a probable underlying immunological pathology. However, serum interleukin-6 levels were not significantly correlated with positive, negative, or general psychopathology symptoms.