Low levels of serum total antioxidant capacity and presence at admission and absence at discharge of a day/night change as a marker of acute paranoid schizophrenia relapse

• Published in: Psychiatry research 2017-03, Vol.249, p.200-205
• Main Authors: Morera-Fumero, Armando L, Díaz-Mesa, Estefanía, Abreu-Gonzalez, Pedro, Fernandez-Lopez, Lourdes, del Rosario Cejas-Mendez, Maria
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute relapse; Adult; Antioxidants; Biological markers; Biomarkers - blood; Chronic Disease; Day/night changes; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; Humans; Male; Methodology; Middle Aged; Oxidant-antioxidant system; Oxidative Stress - physiology; Psychiatry; Recurrence; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia, Paranoid - blood; Schizophrenia, Paranoid - diagnosis; Total antioxidant capacity
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.01.043

Abstract Background An oxidant-antioxidant system dysregulation has been described as a schizophrenia pathophysiological base. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) is one measure of the antioxidant capacity of a system. Day/night concentration changes is a biological characteristic of hormones such as melatonin or cortisol. There is no information about TAC day/night changes in schizophrenia. Aims Studying the existence of a day/night TAC change in schizophrenia. Method Forty-three DSM-IV paranoid schizophrenia inpatients participated in the study. Thirty healthy subjects matched by age and gender acted as control group. Blood was sampled at 12:00 and 00:00 h the day after admission and the day before discharge. Serum TAC was measured by the ABTS radical cation technique and expressed in Trolox mmol/L. Results Patients had significantly lower TAC levels at admission and discharge (12:00 and 00:00) than controls. At admission patients had a TAC day/night change, with higher day-time than night-time levels (0.66±0.14 vs 0.60±0.15) as well as healthy subjects (0.83±0.07 vs 0.77±0.11). At discharge patients had a similar TAC level at 12:00 and 00:00 (0.64±0.15 vs 0.63±0.14). Conclusion Schizophrenic patients present a deficit of the antioxidant system. The initial presence and the later absence of a day/night change deserves future studies.