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Plasma Soluble P-selectin, Interleukin-6 and S100B Protein in Patients with Schizophrenia: a Pilot Study

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Abstract

Microglial activation has long been posited to be involved in the neurobiology of schizophrenia. However, recent studies indicate that schizophrenia is associated with astrocytic activation, rather than microglia activation. Moreover, elevated levels of peripheral inflammatory cytokines associated with schizophrenia could induce or reflect brain inflammation. Therefore, based on: 1) findings of a periphery-to-brain communication pathway involving the cell adhesion molecule, P-selectin, in animal models; 2) dysregulated interleukin-6 (IL-6) and elevated levels of the astrocytic marker, S100B protein, in patients with schizophrenia, we sought to determine correlations between plasma soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin), S100B and IL-6 respectively. We recruited 106 patients with schizophrenia (mean age 33 years, 71.60% male) from the inpatient. sP-selectin, S100B and IL-6 were measured in fasting plasma. We calculated Pearson’s and partial correlations between sP-selectin, S100B and IL-6. After controlling for potential confounders, sP-selectin positively correlated with S100B (r=0.31, p=0.004) and IL-6 (r=0.28, P=0.046). The correlation between IL-6 and S100B (r=0.28, p=0.066) did not reach statistical significance. We propose that in some patients with schizophrenia, immune activation in the periphery is associated with P-selectin-mediated trafficking of inflammation into the brain (most likely via leukocytes), which might be associated with astrocytic activation. Future studies should include healthy controls and first episode/early-onset psychosis patients. Importantly, in vivo imaging of neuroinflammation should be correlated with sP-selectin, IL-6 and S100B in the periphery and the CSF. Finally, the utility of combining sP-selectin, IL-6 and S100B as biomarkers for subtyping patients with schizophrenia, treatment selection and prognosis, should be evaluated in longitudinal studies.

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Funding

Seed Grant from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA

    Omar F. Pinjari

  2. Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

    Swapan K. Dasgupta

  3. Center for Translational Research on Inflammatory Diseases (CTRID), Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas, USA

    Swapan K. Dasgupta & Olaoluwa O. Okusaga

  4. Bipolar and Schizophrenia Treatment (BeST) Clinic, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Olaoluwa O. Okusaga

  5. Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Olaoluwa O. Okusaga

Authors
  1. Omar F. Pinjari
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  2. Swapan K. Dasgupta
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  3. Olaoluwa O. Okusaga
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Contributions

Olaoluwa O. Okusaga conceptualized and designed the study, got funding for the study, oversaw data collection, carried out the statistical analyses, reviewed and edited drafts of the manuscript. Omar F. Pinjari, wrote the first draft of the manuscript which was reviewed and edited in detail by the other coauthors. Swapan K. Dasgupta provided critical intellectual input on the interpretation of the results, reviewed, and edited the drafts of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olaoluwa O. Okusaga.

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The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston and was carried out in accordance with the latest version of the declaration of Helsinki.

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Pinjari, O.F., Dasgupta, S.K. & Okusaga, O.O. Plasma Soluble P-selectin, Interleukin-6 and S100B Protein in Patients with Schizophrenia: a Pilot Study. Psychiatr Q 93, 335–345 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-021-09954-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-021-09954-3

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