Association Between Serum DHEA Levels And Clinical Characteristics In Male Patients With First-Episode Schizophrenia

Objectives To investigate the association between the serum dehydroepiandrosterone(DHEA)level and the clinical characteristics of male patients with first-episode schizophrenia,and to explore its role in the pathophysiological mechanism of schizophrenia.Methods Seventy-three first-episode patients with schizophrenia(FEPS)and seventyeight age-matched male healthy controls(HC)were recruited.The psychopathology of patients was assessed by positive and negative syndrome scale(PANSS),and the cognitive function of all participates was evaluated by MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery(MCCB).Serum DHEA levels and cortisol levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results 1 The cognitive function of FEPS was significantly lower than that of controls.Male FEPS have significant functional impairments in multiple cognitive measurements(speed of processing,attention/vigilance,working memory,verbal learning,visual learning,reasoning & problem solving,social cognition,MCCB total score)(P<0.05).2 Serum DHEA levels of male FEPS were much lower than that of controls(P<0.01).However,serum cortisol levels in FEPS were higher than that in controls(P<0.001).3 Partial correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between serum DHEA levels and clinical characteristics of both groups,taking age and year of education as covariates.The results showed that serum DHEA level was negatively correlated with positive symptoms subscale score and total score of PANSS in FEPS(r=-0.31,P<0.05;r=-0.27,P<0.05,respectively).4Serum DHEA levels in FEPS was positively correlated with working memory(r= 0.43,P<0.001),social cognitive function(r= 0.45,P<0.001),as well as total MCCB score(r=0.44,P<0.001).5 No significant correlation was found between serum cortisol and DHEA levels or clinical characteristics of patients in this study.6 No significant correlation was found between serum cortisol-DHEA ratios and clinical characteristics of patients in this study.Conclusions 1 Serum DHEA may involve in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.2DHEA may serve as a biomarker for early recognition of male schizophrenia.Figure 5;Table 6;Reference 131...