Schizophrenia is complex and clinically heterogeneous psychiatric disorder that has an evidenced genetic basis. Several reports indicate a possible role of the activation of the immune system in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. CD28 is a molecule expressed on T-cells that provides the major co-stimulatory signal required for activation of immune response. For many years now, it has been strongly advocated that biological underpinnings of schizophrenia should be investigated with respect to subpopulations of subjects defined by homogenous symptomatology.

To investigate the association of polymorphism of the CD28 gene (T17int3C) with respect to schizophrenia symptomatology.

105 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria and 380 controls were included in the study. The patients were diagnosed using the Operational Criteria for Psychotic Illness checklist (OPCRIT). Based on confirmatory factor analysis on OPCRIT items performed by Serretti et al. (2004), in our study we considered five factors of symptomatology (mania, positive symptoms, disorganization, depression and negative symptoms).

There was significant difference in distribution of genotypes between patients with schizophrenia with co-occurring manic symptoms and without co-occurring manic symptoms (respectively CC and/or TC: 23% vs. 47%, TT: 77% vs. 53%, p=0,040). There was also difference in distribution of genotypes between patients with schizophrenia with co-occurring depressive symptoms and without cooccurring depressive symptoms (respectively CC and/or TC: 24% vs. 47%, TT: 76% vs. 53%, p=0,043).

We have shown that CD28 gene polymorphism might increase risk for affective (depressive and/or manic) symptom dimension in schizophrenic patients.

1. 1. No differences were found in the allelic distribution in the investigated genes polymorphisms between the whole schizophrenics and the control group.

2. 2. Associations between DAT: A9 allele, DRD2: del 141C allele, DRD2: Taq1A A1 allele, COMT: Met/Met genotype, MAOA: 4VNTR allel (males only) and GRIK3: SER allel with non responding patients were found.

Applying programs of early cognitive intervention, concentrated on psychological influences, constitutes the important component of comprehensive medical influences nonpharmacological, influencing to the improvement in psychological functioning, in cognitive areas and qualities of life.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the multimedia program of the cognitive rehabilitation (cognitive training, psychoeducation), directed at patients with MCI and with early stage in the AD.

Outpatients, N = 75, average of the age: 68.6 (10.14 SD), above 45 years,; MMSE > 20, I group - MCI (N = 34): with the intervention (N = 18), without (N = 16), II group - AD (N = 29): with intervention, (N = 15), without (N = 14), III group - CG: patients without cognitive disorders (N = 12).

Randomized, clinical trial. Diagnosis on the base: of clinical interview, of examining a mental state, physical, TK, MRI, of laboratory tests, screening neuropsychological (MMSE, CDT, Demtect, Fluencial). Patients participated in 6 week’s program of the cognitive rehabilitation (4 × during the week) and 18 household conditions. The evaluation of the cognitive functioning, mental state, of functioning in the everyday life, of approval of illness, of satisfaction from the life, qualities of life, caregiver burden were being before and after intervention.

An improvement in cognitive functioning was get in selected aspects: of cognitive functioning (linguistic functions, memory, attention, of visual-motor coordination), of mental state, qualities of life.

Nonpharmacological influences, spreading through cognitive training and psychoeducation, at patients with dementia or MCI constitute essential element correcting their functioning in the process psychological rehabilitation.

Clients’ satisfaction with mental health service is one of necessary conditions of good treatment outcomes. The aim of the study was to investigate satisfaction with treatment and it's dependency of users’ needs and their subjective quality of life.

The sample of 174 out-patients with schizophrenic, affective, anxiety, eating and personality disorders were assessed with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule (CANSAS), Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MANSA) and the Client's Scale for Assessment of Treatment (CAT).

1. 1. The mean result of CAT was 8,2 [SD=1,5] and the half of patients assessed their satisfaction with treatment between 7,2 and 9,2 (on 1-10 scale). Persons with eating and personality disorders were the least satisfied with services.

2. 2. The highest numbers of met/ total needs were connected with health and unmet needs with social area. Total unmet needs of persons with schizophrenic, eating, personality and affective disorders were significantly higher than among patients with anxiety disorders.

3. 3. Persons with personality, affective and eating disorders had significantly lowest subjective quality of life.

4. 4. Satisfaction with treatment had negative correlation with unmet needs (mostly health and service needs), intensity of depressive/anxiety symptoms and positive correlation with subjective quality of life.

1. 1. Social needs were the most often unmet from patients’ point of view.

2. 2. The higher unmet needs and more intensive symptoms of depressive/anxiety were, the less patients were satisfied with treatment and the lower they assessed their quality of life.

The Goldberg's 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) is used as a screening instrument for psychological distress in the general population. GHQ-30 has been widely used as a unitary measure, but several underlying factors have been identified in previous studies based on factor analyses.

To analyze the internal consistency and the factor structure of the Polish version of GHQ-30 in the group of somatic and psychiatric patients’ subpopulations. Differences in factor structure among those two groups might have important implications for how the test is used in those populations.

A total of 1473 patients (807 psychiatric and 666 somatic) were included into the study. A total score was calculated with Likert method. The principal factor analysis with orthogonal varimax normalized rotation was used for the factor extraction.

The GHQ-30 was found to have high internal consistency. The factorial analysis conducted for the whole group, as well as for psychiatric and somatic patients separately, showed that two factors labeled as followed can be abstracted from the global scale: “depression and anxiety” and “interpersonal functioning and general coping”. These factors jointly account for 54,2% – 62,3% of the variance.

Results showed that GHQ-30 may be used both as a unitary measure using full-scale sores and allows to get more detailed information about individual's intra- and interpersonal functioning.

Genetic factors that modulate the immune response have been implicated as risk factors both for schizophrenia as well as for cognitive impairments (endophenotypes of schizophrenia). Regulation of immune response is mediated by two related receptors: CD28 is a major co-stimulator, whereas CTLA-4 performs negative regulatory functions. Balance of immune response depends on the expression of these regulatory molecules due to their genes polymorphisms.

The study was carried out to investigate the association between polymorphisms of two genes: CTLA-4 (49A/G, −319C/T, CT60 A/G) and CD28 (+17C/T) and frontal lobe functions in patients with schizophrenia.

118 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (ICD-10) and 352 controls were included in the study. Frontal lobe functioning was assessed by Trail Making Test (TMT) and Stroop Test (SCWT).

There was no significant difference in distribution of genotypes between patients and controls in the polymorphisms of CTLA-4 gene, but in polymorphism of CD28 gene (p = 0,0007). With respect to +17C/T CD28 gene polymorphism there was a trend level difference in performance on TMT: C allel carriers performed worse that T allel carriers (p = 0,054), suggesting weaker executive control function.

Our data support a role of CD28 +17 C/T gene polymorphisms for the predisposition to schizophrenia. Among patients the distribution of genotypes of CD28 gene polymorphism is similar to that found in patients with autoimmune disorders such as: early onset type 1 diabetes and Behçet's disease. Additionally, +17C/T CD28 gene polymorphism might be considered as a risk factor for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

Neuregulin-1 (NRG1) may be an important factor in pathogenesis of schizophrenia due to its role in neurodevelopmental processes: myelination, neurotransmitter receptor expression and synaptic plasticity. NRG1 has been also implied to play role in cognitive impairments, which are considered to be endophenotypes of schizophrenia, i.e. subclinical, heritable and independent of clinical state traits associated with genetic susceptibility. Surprisingly, a recent meta-analysis (Dickinson, 2007) demonstrated that reliable and easy to administer Digit Symbol Coding Task (DSCT) discriminate people with schizophrenia from comparison individuals better than the more widely studied neuropsychological instruments.

The study was carried out to investigate the association of a polymorphisms of the NRG1 gene (rs62510682) and schizophrenia with respect to performance on DSCT.

We included 103 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria and 578 controls in our study. The patients were evaluated for lifetime psychotic symptomatology using the Operational Criteria for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT) checklist. DSCT was administered to 80 patients.

The polymorphisms were in HWE both in the cases’ and controls’ groups. In single marker analysis, we did not find an association for the SNP tested. However; we have found that T allel carriers (TT and/or GT genotype) performed worse than G allel carriers (p=0.4) suggesting weaker cognitive processing efficiency.

Our data do not support the role of the NRG1 gene polymorphism (rs62510682) in the predisposition to schizophrenia; however, the studied SNP might be considered to be a risk factor for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

comparisons of cognitive impairments between schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BPD) have produced mixed results.

this is the only study to assess different aspects of WM with respect to psychosis dimension in these patient populations.

to determine whether these groups of patients can be classified on the basis of WM performance.

we applied different working memory (WM) measures (Digit Span Forward and Backward, Short-delay and Long-delay CPT-AX, N-back) to patients with SZ(n=23),psychotic BPD(n=19) and non-psychotic BPD(n=24), as well as to healthy controls (HC) (n=18) in order to compare the level of WM impairments across the groups.

with respect to the less demanding WM measures (Digit Span Forward and Backward, Short-delay CPT-AX), there were no between group differences in cognitive performance; however, with respect to the more demanding WM measures (Long-delay CPT-AX, N-back), we observed that the groups with psychosis (SZ, psychotic BPD) did not differ from one another, but performed poorer than the group without a history of psychosis (non-psychotic BPD). A history of psychotic symptoms may influence cognitive performance with respect to WM delay and load effects as measured by Long-delay CPT-AX and N-back tests, respectively. We observed a positive correlation of WM performance with antipsychotic treatment and a negative correlation with depressive symptoms in BPD and with negative symptoms in SZ subgroup.

our study suggests that WM dysfunctions are more closely related to a history of psychosis than to the diagnostic categories of SZ and BPD described by psychiatric classification systems.

Migration of mental health professionals is an important phenomenon influencing mental health services of host and donor countries. Data on medical migration in Europe is very limited, particularly in the field of young doctors and psychiatry. To research this hot topic, the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees (EFPT) conducted the EFPT Brain Drain Survey.

To identify the impact of previous short-term mobility on international migration and to understand characteristics, patterns and reasons of migration.

In this cross-sectional European multicentre study, data were collected from 2281 psychiatric trainees across 33 countries. All participants answered to the EFPT Brain Drain Survey reporting their attitudes and experiences on migration.

Two-thirds of the trainees had not had a short-mobility experience in their lifetime, but those that went abroad were satisfied with their experiences, reporting that these influenced their attitude towards migration positively. However, the majority of the trainees had not had a migratory experience of more than 1 year. Flows showed that Switzerland and United Kingdom have the greatest number of immigrant trainees, whereas Germany and Greece have the greatest number of trainees leaving. ‘'Pull factors'’ were mostly academic and personal reasons, whereas ‘'push factors'’ were mainly: academic and financial reasons. Trainees that wanted to leave the country were significantly more dissatisfied with their income.

The majority of the trainees has considered leaving the country they currently lived in, but a lower percentage has taken steps towards migration.

Neuregulin-1 (NRG1) and DISC1 may be important factors in pathogenesis of schizophrenia due to their role in neurodevelopmental processes. NRG1 and DISC1 link directly into a common pathway mediated by Erb receptors and P13K/AKT1 signaling and have been implied to play role in cognitive impairments. Digit Symbol Coding Task (DSCT) from WAIS-R is a sensitive measure for cognitive decline in schizophrenia as well as it indexes poor prognosis and functional disability in schizophrenia.

The study was carried out to investigate the association of a polymorphisms of the NRG1 gene (rs62510682) as well as of DISC1 gene (rs1538979) and schizophrenia with respect to performance on DSCT.

We included 103 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria and 578 controls. In addition to unstructured interviews and review of medical records, the patients were evaluated for lifetime psychotic symptomatology using OPCRIT checklist. DCSTR was administered to 80 patients.

The polymorphisms were in HWE for healthy controls and schizophrenia patients. In single marker analysis, we did not find an association for the SNPs tested. However; with respect to DCST we found that with respect to NRG1 gene T allel carriers performed worse than G allel carriers (p<0.5) and with respect to DISC1 gene patients with TC genotype performed worse than with CC genotype (p<0.05).

Our data do not support the role of NRG1 or DISC gene polymorphisms in the predisposition to schizophrenia; however, they might be considered as risk factors for the cognitive decline in schizophrenia.

Accumulating evidence indicates concordant epigenetic dysregulation in the brain and peripheral blood leukocytes in schizophrenia. It has also been found that stressful and traumatic events may alter DNA methylation; however, such studies have not been performed in schizophrenia patients.

This study aimed at comparing LINE-1 methylation in first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients and healthy control (HC) subjects with respect to the history of trauma.

We recruited 40 FES patients and 49 HC subjects matched for age, gender and body mass index (BMI). The early trauma self-report – short form (ETISR-SF) was administered to assess traumatic events. In addition to assessment of LINE-1 methylation, serum levels of homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 were measured in all subjects.

There was no significant difference in LINE-1 methylation between FES patients and HC subjects. However, LINE-1 methylation was significantly lower in FES patients with positive history of trauma when compared with FES patients and HC subjects with negative history of trauma (58.08±3.27% vs. 61.28±4.12%, p = 0.022 and 58.08±3.27% vs. 61.12±4.73%, p = 0.038, respectively). There was no significant difference in LINE-1 methylation between FES patients and HC subjects with negative history of trauma. There was a negative correlation between total trauma score and LINE-1 methylation (r = −0.390, p = 0.012). After controlling for confounding variables (age, gender, treatment duration, pack-year index, metabolic parameters), LINE-1 methylation was associated with total trauma score (p = 0.011).

Traumatic events might be associated with lower global DNA methylation in FES patients.

Inconsistent results indicate that plasma levels of homocysteine (Hcy), folic acid (FA) and vitamin B12 are altered in first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients.

The aim of this study was to assess the association between alterations in plasma Hcy, FA, vitamin B12 and lipid profile and schizophrenia.

We recruited 45 FES patients and 23 healthy age-matched controls (HC). Diagnosis of schizophrenia was based on ICD-10 and DSMIV criteria, and confirmed using Operational Criteria for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT). We excluded patients with drug and/or alcohol abuse within one year of onset of psychotic symptoms.

There was no difference in mean plasma biochemical parameters between FES patients and HC with exception of high density lipoproteins (HDL) level (FES: 52,69 ± 17.07 vs. HC: 68,35 ± 16.99 mg/dl, p = 0,001). However, there were significant differences between FES patients with and without positive history of life-time cannabis abuse/dependence in Hcy (16.11 ± 7.62 vs. 10.56 ± 3.61 μmol/l, respectively, p < 0,001), FA (4.82 ± 1.81 vs. 7.22 ± 3.29 ng/ml, respectively, p = 0,006) and HDL (45.87 ± 20.24 vs. 57.85 ± 13.27 mg/dl, respectively, p = 0,004). These differences were independent of age, gender, BMI and cigarette smoking. In addition, Hcy level was significantly higher and HDL was significantly lower in patients with positive family history of schizophrenia (p = 0.002).

Our results indicate that cannabis abuse or dependence and family history of schizophrenia may account for metabolic disturbances in FES.

Dental anxiety is a common phenomenon influencing the relationship between a patient and a doctor as well as the course of treatment. The aim of the study was to assess the oral health status and hygienic habits among adult patients with respect to their level of dental anxiety.

In the study we included 117 consecutive adult patients referred to the Department of Conservative Dentistry and Pedodontics of Wroclaw Medical University. There were 58 women (49.57%) and 59 men (50.43%). The mean age of the patients was 36.57±16.76 years. The level of dental anxiety was assessed by Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS). To evaluate dental health status and oral hygiene the following indices were used: total number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMF/T) as well as surfaces (DMF/S), Approximal Plaque Index (API), Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) - Debris Index (DI) and Calculus Index (CI).

The higher was the level of dental anxiety measured by MDAS, the lower was the number of filled teeth (F/T) and the number of filled dental surfaces (F/S) and the higher was the Calculus Index (CI). There was no significant difference between dental anxiety measured by MDAS and age, gender or level of education; however, smokers had significantly higher anxiety level than non-smokers.

Dental anxiety has disadvantageous influence on oral health status. Low dental and periodontal health status may have many somatic as well as psychosocial consequences, both lowering quality of life of the patient.

There is no doubt that cannabis abuse contributes to the development of schizophrenia. However, the influence of cannabis on schizophrenia psychopathology remains unclear.

This study aimed at investigating the association between life time diagnosis of cannabis abuse (LTCA) and psychopathological manifestation of first-episode schizophrenia (FES).

We recruited 45 FES patients. Schizophrenia was diagnosed based on DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria, and confirmed using Operational Criteria for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT). Additionally, all patients were assessed using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Patients with drug and/or alcohol abuse within one year of onset of psychotic symptoms were excluded.

Assessment with OPCRIT revealed that LTCA is associated with longer duration of excessive (p = 0.044) and reckless activity (p = 0.023), reduced need for sleep (p = 0.023), other primary delusions (p = 0.046), as well as thought withdrawal (p = 0.01) and thought broadcast (0.01). There was no significant difference in the total score of PANSS subscales (i.e. positive, negative and general). However, FES patients with LTCA experienced significantly more severe excitement (p = 0.031) and grandiosity (p = 0.018), as well as poorer impulse control (p = 0.008).

Our results indicate that LTCA has a differential influence on psychopathology of FES exacerbating delusions of thought broadcast and withdrawal, affective symptoms and behavioural manifestation of experienced psychotic symptoms.

Schizophrenia is a chronic severe psychiatric disorder with multiple environmental and genetic determinants. Several reports indicate the possible role of immune system dysregulation in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. An accumulating body of evidence indicates an association of schizophrenia and its psychopathology with altered cytokine production. The variation of the level of cytokines might be partly due to their functional gene polymorphism.

The study was carried out to investigate the association of schizophrenia with the following cytokine polymorphisms: IL-2 (-330T/G), IL-6 (-174G/C), IFN-gamma (+874 T/A), TGF-beta (+869 T/C and +915 G/C).

We included 130 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 184 controls in our study. The patients were evaluated for lifetime psychotic symptomatology using the Operational Criteria for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT) checklist. The patients having history of traumatic brain injury, neurologic disorders, substance abuse or immune related diseases were excluded from the study by detailed medical examination.

The polymorphisms were in HWE both in the cases’ and controls’ groups. In single marker analysis, we did not find an association for the tested polymorphisms.

Our data do not support the role of IL-2, IL-6, IFN-gamma and TGF-beta gene polymorphisms in the predisposition to schizophrenia in the Polish population.

The DS was identified using the SDS. The MMP-9, BDNF, and COMT gene polymorphisms were genotyped. DNA methylation of the human endogeneous retrovirus type K (HERV-K) sequences was determined. Smell identification test was performed using the Sniffin’ Sticks test. For the assessment of executive function we used the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Trail Making Test, Verbal Fluency Test Phonemic, Stroop Color Word Test and Go/No Go task.

There was no association between the examined functional gene polymorphisms, methylation levels and DS. Similarly, there was no relationship between overall odor identification abilities and the deficit/non-deficit dichotomy. The results tended to indicate specific problems in the identification of few odors in DS. DS, compared with the non-deficit group, obtained lower scores in the WCST and TMT and exhibited greater interference within concept formation and non-verbal cognitive flexibility. Furthermore, in patients with the first schizophrenia-like episode, the number of circulating Lin (-)/CD45 (-)/CD34 (+) very small embryionic like stem cells (VSELs) and the S1P plasma level were the best predictors of risk and are proposed as novel markers for the first “schizophrenic” episode of psychosis.

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Humans learn how to behave both through rules and instructions (explicit learning) as well as through environmental experiences (implicit learning). It has been shown that instructions can powerfully control people's choices, often leading to a confirmation bias.

To explore confirmation bias with respect to cognitive functioning in healthy adult participants.

We recruited 25 healthy adult control subjects (9 males, 16 females, age 31.40 ± 6.08 years). Participants completed Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Status (RBANSS) as well as Instructed Version of Probabilistic Selection Task (IPST) (Doll et al., 2009).

Based on the performance on IPST into two groups: a group with higher and lower susceptibility to confirmation bias. We found no difference between these groups with respect to any of the cognitive domains measured with RBANSS (immediate memory, visuospatial abilities, language, attention and delayed memory) (U Mann-Whitney test, P > 0.05).

In healthy adults, susceptibility to confirmation bias is independent of cognitive functioning (immediate and delayed memory, visuospatial abilities, language and attention).

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

There is a shortage of psychiatrists worldwide. Within Europe, psychiatric trainees can move between countries, which increases the problem in some countries and alleviates it in others. However, little is known about the reasons psychiatric trainees move to another country.

Survey of psychiatric trainees in 33 European countries, exploring how frequently psychiatric trainees have migrated or want to migrate, their reasons to stay and leave the country, and the countries where they come from and where they move to. A 61-item self-report questionnaire was developed, covering questions about their demographics, experiences of short-term mobility (from 3 months up to 1 year), experiences of long-term migration (of more than 1 year) and their attitudes towards migration.

A total of 2281 psychiatric trainees in Europe participated in the survey, of which 72.0% have ‘ever’ considered to move to a different country in their future, 53.5% were considering it ‘now’, at the time of the survey, and 13.3% had already moved country. For these immigrant trainees, academic was the main reason they gave to move from their country of origin. For all trainees, the overall main reason for which they would leave was financial (34.4%), especially in those with lower (<500€) incomes (58.1%), whereas in those with higher (>2500€) incomes, personal reasons were paramount (44.5%).

A high number of psychiatric trainees considered moving to another country, and their motivation largely reflects the substantial salary differences. These findings suggest tackling financial conditions and academic opportunities.

There is a scarcity of prospective studies addressing the influence of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphisms on antipsychotic-induced metabolic changes in first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients.

We aimed at investigating metabolic side effects of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) with respect to the MTHFR gene polymorphisms in FES patients.

Polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene (C677T and A1298C) were investigated with respect to changes in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) together with serum levels of glucose, lipids, homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folate after 12 weeks of treatment with SGAs in 135 FES patients.

The 677TT genotype was associated with significantly higher BMI, WC and serum levels of triglycerides, as well as significantly lower folate levels at baseline. Additionally, the 677T allele was associated with significantly lower folate levels at baseline. The 677CC homozygotes had significantly higher increase in BMI and serum levels of triglycerides. The 677TT genotype predicted significantly higher increase in homocysteine levels and significantly higher decrease in folate levels. These associations were also significant in the allelic analysis. Only the patients with the 677T allele had significantly lower folate levels and significantly higher homocysteine levels at the follow-up. The 677T allele was also related to significantly lower increase in WC. The 1298CC homozygotes had significantly higher weight gain in the course of treatment with SGAs.

The MTHFR gene polymorphisms might predict antipsychotic-induced weight gain in FES patients. In addition, the MTHFR C677T polymorphism might be also predictive with respect to other metabolic adversities of SGAs.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

The influence of the immune deregulation on the risk and psychopathology of schizophrenia is increasingly recognized in the literature.

To assess the association between serum IL-1RA on schizophrenia psychopathology.

We recruited 88 schizophrenia patients (38 males and 49 females, mean age 38.12 ± 12.67 years) and 88 healthy adult control subjects (68 males, 20 females, mean age 40.63 ± 7.99 years). Lifetime psychopathology was evaluated using Operational Criteria for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT) checklist, while current psychopathology was assessed using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Serum samples were stored in aliquots at –80 °C. Serum levels of IL1-RA were measured using Immunoassay (ELISA).

There were statistically significant differences between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls (median ± interquartile range: 350,81 ± 227.04 and 888.74 ± 762.63, respectively [pg/ml]) (U Mann–Whitney test, Z = –7.99, P < 0.0001). There were no differences in serum IL1-RA levels between male and female among patients with schizophrenia (U Mann–Whitney test, Z = –0.22, P = 0.82) nor among healthy control subjects (U Mann–Whitney test, Z = –0.17, P = 0.86). Among schizophrenia patients, there was a trend-level association between IL-1RA serum level with negative symptoms (Spearman correlation coefficient, r = –0.23, P = 0.056), positive symptoms (Spearman correlation coefficient r = –0.22, P = 0.066), and on a statistically significant level with general symptoms (Spearman correlation coefficient r = –0.28, P = 0.018).

Serum IL1-RA level is higher in schizophrenia patients in comparison to healthy controls and it is associated with schizophrenia psychopathology.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.