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Association of Serum Trace Elements with Schizophrenia and Effects of Antipsychotic Treatment

Biological Trace Element Research volume 181, pages 22–30 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Variation of serum trace elements was previously reported in schizophrenia (SZ) patients; however, whether such variation is resulted from the antipsychotic treatment remains obscure. A case control study consist of 165 SZ inpatients and 614 healthy controls measured serum magnesium (Mg), Copper (Cu), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (Phos), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) to investigate the relationship of trace elements and SZ. The SZ patients were further followed up (average 3.8 weeks) to evaluate the effects of antipsychotic treatment on the trace element concentrations using repeated measures ANOVA analysis. The results showed that higher concentrations of Mg and Phos and lower concentrations of Ca, Fe, and Zn were significant in SZ patients than that of controls (P < 0.01). The age was positively correlated with Fe and Cu, and negatively correlated with Ca, Phos, and Zn in controls (P < 0.05). Fe in male SZ patients was significantly higher than in female (P < 0.001), as well as in paranoid SZ and acute SZ (P < 0.05). Phos significantly increased after risperidone, clozapine, and aripiprazole treatment (P < 0.05), while Cu was decreased after clozapine and aripiprazole treatment. Zn significantly decreased particularly in mixed type SZ, acute SZ, and schizotypal SZ after antipsychotic treatment. These results suggested that higher concentration of Phos and lower concentration of Fe and Zn have important implications for the risk of SZ and the antipsychotic treatment is likely to result in the decreased Fe and increased Phos in the clinical subtypes of SZ.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Clinical Research Project of Huai’an Technology Project Bureau (Grant No. HAS2011023) and the Priority Academic Program for the Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (Public Health and Preventive Medicine). The funders did not participate in study design, data collection and analysis, publishment decision-making, and preparation of manuscripts.

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  1. Xuefei Chen, Yinghui Li, and Ting Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Laboratory, Huaian Third Hospital, 272 Huaihai West Road, Huaian, 223001, People’s Republic of China

    Xuefei Chen, Yinghui Li & Yong Xue

  2. School of Public Health, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, 241001, China

    Ting Zhang & Yingshui Yao

  3. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, No. 101 Longmian Avenue, Jiangning District, Nanjing, 211166, China

    Ting Zhang & Chong Shen

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  1. Xuefei Chen
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  2. Yinghui Li
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Correspondence to Chong Shen or Yong Xue.

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Chen, X., Li, Y., Zhang, T. et al. Association of Serum Trace Elements with Schizophrenia and Effects of Antipsychotic Treatment. Biol Trace Elem Res 181, 22–30 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-017-1039-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-017-1039-6

Keywords

  • Schizophrenia
  • Phosphorus
  • Iron
  • Zinc
  • Magnesium
  • Antipsychotic treatment