International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine & Public Health

Relationship of Blood C - reactive protein (CRP) Level and Cognitive Deficit in Patients with Schizophrenia

Introduction/Background: Increasing blood serum CRP level (C - reactive protein) in schizophrenic patients has been shown in recent studies and there have more emphasis on inflammatory aspects of schizophrenic disease. Aim & Objective: In current study, the purpose is to find and show the relationship between cognitive deficits in schizophrenic patients with blood serum CRP level.

Methods/Study: The statistical community, including patients with schizophrenia in the age range 18 to 65 years admitted to the Razi hospital in their diagnosis by an expert-based psychiatric diagnostic criterion (DSM-IV-TR) is definitive. Exclusion criteria for patients from the study is: 1) primary diagnosis of drug dependence, or sign of taking them, 2) a history of mental retardation, 3) having any history of clinical disorders that effect on cognitive vision, such as epilepsy and seizures, history of encephalitis or trauma (physical damage) to the skull or any central nervous system disorder. Using MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination Questionnaire), 75 severely impaired cognitive patients were randomly selected. Also, in order to determine CRP serum, sample blood for fasting through immunoassay was measured, then through descriptive and inferential statistics, also showed and analyzed. In order to analyze the data in the description of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation, and in statistical inference of correlation, regression, ANOVA and t-test was used. Results/Finding: The results show that there is a positive significant correlation between cognitive deficit and serum CRP(r= 0.18, p<0.05). Also there is a significant correlation between cognitive deficit and age of schizophrenia onset(r=0.22 and p<0.01). Regression analysis was used to assess the role of serum CRP concentration to forecast cognitive deficit of the patients with schizophrenia (t= -2.2 & f=5 and p<0.05). Comparison of cognitive deficit between two high and low groups of CRP, Based on cut-off point of CRP test, subjects were divided into two groups and t-test was used to compare their cognitive deficit(t=2 & f=2.36 and p<0.05).

Discussion/Conclusion: Generally, such findings show the necessity to assess CRP in the patients with schizophrenia. Increased CRP is due to inflammation in patient's body, thereby using antiinflammatory drugs may establish a path towards decreased effects of schizophrenia or even improvement of the disease.

Author(s): Nazila Diyanoosh , Omid Rezaei , Saeede Masafi , Ali Nazeri , Hadis Hoseynzade

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