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Racial Differences in S100b Levels in Persons with Schizophrenia

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Abstract

The calcium-binding protein S100b is secreted by glial cells in the brain and is also expressed by melanocytes. In nanomolar concentrations, S100b is considered to be a neurotrophic factor, but in micromolar concentrations, it is thought to reflect CNS injury and inflammation. Seen as a potential biomarker in traumatic brain injury, meta-analytic data from several studies report that S100b levels are significantly higher in persons with long standing schizophrenia, but also among first-episode patients compared to healthy control subjects. However, ethnic or racial differences are typically not mentioned when reporting levels of S100b. We assessed serum S100b levels in persons with schizophrenia (n = 136) who were participants in two independent research studies using the same enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). African-American subjects had significantly higher levels of S100b (41.9 pg/ml ± 62.2) than Caucasian subjects (24.9 pg/ml ± 45.4) in the combined dataset (Mann-Whitney U = 1307, p < 0.001), as well as in each independent study. There were no significant differences in S100b levels between men and women. No significant correlations were observed between S100b levels and demographic or clinical variables. These data suggest that ethnicity or race should be given serious consideration when studying and interpreting S100b levels in persons with schizophrenia.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Patricia Schlicht, RN, MA, who was the Research Nurse Coordinator for Study 1, and Joan Spinogatti, who handled IRB submission for Study 1, and coordinated author collaboration and drafts of the manuscript, including creating the figures and tables. We also thank Fang Liu who helped with data management, William W. Eaton, PhD, Nicola Cascella, MD and Alessio Fasano, MD who all helped with the study design for study 2.

Funding

Study 1 was funded by an award to K. N. Roy Chengappa (PI) by the Stanley Medical Research Institute, and Study 2 was funded by pilot funding from the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center to Deanna Kelly (PI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Psychiatric Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Jessica M. Gannon, Abigail Besch, Jaspreet S. Brar & K. N. Roy Chengappa

  2. School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Jessica M. Gannon, Abigail Besch & K. N. Roy Chengappa

  3. Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Deanna L. Kelly

  4. Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences, New Delhi, India

    Tanu Thakur

  5. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Neil Khurana

  6. Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Michael R. Shurin & Galina V. Shurin

  7. Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Ross 659, 720 Rutland Ave, Baltimore, MD, 21210, USA

    Daniela Cihakova & Monica V. Talor

Authors
  1. Jessica M. Gannon
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  2. Deanna L. Kelly
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  3. Abigail Besch
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  4. Tanu Thakur
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  5. Neil Khurana
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  6. Michael R. Shurin
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  7. Galina V. Shurin
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  8. Jaspreet S. Brar
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  9. Daniela Cihakova
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  10. Monica V. Talor
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  11. K. N. Roy Chengappa
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Correspondence to Jessica M. Gannon.

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Gannon, J.M., Kelly, D.L., Besch, A. et al. Racial Differences in S100b Levels in Persons with Schizophrenia. Psychiatr Q 91, 137–145 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09687-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09687-4

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