Association of adipokines with metabolic disorders in patients with schizophrenia: Results of comparative study with mental healthy cohort.

Aim: The role of adipose tissue hormones, adipokines, in formation of metabolic disorders in schizophrenia is not fully understood. The aim was to investigate the association of leptin and adiponectin plasma levels with metabolic parameters in antipsychotic treated patients with schizophrenia and in the group of age, gender and body mass index matched mental healthy persons.

Methods: One hundred patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia, who took antipsychotic medication, and equal number of control subjects, were enrolled for cross-sectional evaluation. Fasting blood plasma levels of glucose, lipids, insulin, adiponectin, leptin concentrations and insulin resistance HOMA index were determined.

Results: In both groups plasma leptin concentration positively correlated with body mass index, insulin plasma level and HOMA index, while adiponectin level had negative correlations with adiposity measures and positive associations with high density lipoprotein cholesterol content. At the same time, in schizophrenia group, but not in control subjects, leptin level positively associated with cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations and adiponectin negatively correlated with plasma insulin content, HOMA index and triglycerides levels. After controlling for confounders significant correlations remained for leptin concentration with HOMA index and plasma triglycerides level in schizophrenic patients and for adiponectin concentration with plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations in both studied groups.

Conclusions: Both adipokines associate with metabolic parameters in antipsychotic treated patients with schizophrenia. Leptin can play more specific role in pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome in schizophrenic persons than in mental healthy subjects.