Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is an oncofetal glycoprotein that is widely used as a tumour marker in adenocarcinomas. However, several non-neoplastic conditions, including acute and chronic inflammation and other inflammation-related conditions, are characterised by increased CEA concentrations.

Bipolar disorder (BD) ranks seventh among the worldwide burden of non-fatal diseases. Inflammatory biomarkers have been considered as one of the main key pillars of a multifactorial approach for prediction of BD in an at-risk population.

BP is accompanied by activation of inflammatory, cell-mediated and negative immunoregulatory cytokines.

We measured the levels of CEA in serum samples from 44 individuals with euthymic BP out-patients and 45 healthy controls. Patients were diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria. CEA was measured by an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay.

The mean serum CEA concentration was 2.36±1.52 and 1.77±0.98 µg/l in patients and controls, respectively. CEA levels were significantly increased in euthymic BP patients when compared with controls (p=0.031).

This study suggests that CEA is increased in BD and supports a role for immune activation in the core pathological mechanisms of BP. CEA levels may be a secondary marker for diagnosing BP.

Oxidative stress has been shown to play an important role in the pathogenesis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although there are some studies on oxidative stress and PTSD, there is no report available on the serum total oxidant and antioxidant status in earthquake survivors with PTSD. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the serum total oxidant and antioxidant status in earthquake survivors with chronic PTSD.

The study group included 45 earthquake survivors with PTSD and 40 earthquake survivors without PTSD. The oxidative status was determined using the total antioxidant status and total oxidant status (TOS) measurements and by calculating the oxidative stress index (OSI).

There were no statistically significant differences in the total antioxidant status, TOS, or OSI when comparing individuals with and without PTSD (all, p>0.05). There were no correlations between Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale scores and oxidant and antioxidant stress markers (all, p>0.05).

Our results suggest that the total oxidant and antioxidant status may not affect earthquake survivors with PTSD. This is the first study to evaluate the oxidative status in earthquake survivors with PTSD. Further studies are necessary to confirm these findings.

Schizoaffective disorder is a disease with both affective and psychotic symptoms. In this study, we aimed to compare oxidative metabolism markers of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenic patients. Furthermore, we also aimed to investigate whether schizoaffective disorder could be differentiated from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in terms of oxidative metabolism.

Total oxidant status (TOS) and total antioxidant status (TAS) were measured in the blood samples that were collected from schizoaffective patients (n = 30), bipolar disorder patients (n = 30) and schizophrenic patients (n = 30). Oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated by dividing TOS by TAS.

TOS and OSI were found to be higher in patients with schizoaffective disorder compared with those in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients. TAS was not significantly different between the groups.

Schizoaffective disorder was found to be different from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in terms of oxidative parameters. This result may indicate that schizoaffective disorder could differ from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in terms of biochemical parameters. Increased TOS levels observed in schizoaffective disorder may suggest poor clinical course and may be an indicator of poor prognosis.