Correlation of plasma neurosteroid levels to the severity of negative symptoms in male patients with schizophrenia

Shirayama, Yukihiko; Hashimoto, Kenji; Suzuki, Yoshio; Higuchi, Teruhiko

« Previous Next »Schizophrenia Research
Volume 58, Issue 1 , Pages 69-74, 1 November 2002

Correlation of plasma neurosteroid levels to the severity of negative symptoms in male patients with schizophrenia

Yukihiko Shirayama
- Corresponding author. Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, Connecticut Mental Health Center, 34 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06508, USA. Tel.: +1-203-974-7743, fax: +1-203-974-7897
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Showa University Fujigaoka Hospital, Yokohama, Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, Kanto Teishin Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Kenji Hashimoto
- Division of Cortical Function Disorders, National Institute of Neuroscience, NCNP, Tokyo, Japan
- Present address: Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
Yoshio Suzuki
- Department of Psychiatry, Kanto Teishin Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
- Present address: Tsurugaoka Hospital, Machida, Tokyo 195-0055, Japan.
Teruhiko Higuchi
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Showa University Fujigaoka Hospital, Yokohama, Japan
- Present address: Kohnodai Hospital, NCNP, Ichikawa, Chiba 272-8516, Japan.

Received 18 April 2001; received in revised form 10 September 2001; accepted 13 September 2001.

Abstract

The authors examined the correlations among plasma levels of ACTH, cortisol, progesterone, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and their relationship with the scales for assessment of negative symptoms (SANS) in the male schizophrenic patients with negative symptoms. The subjects were 28 male schizophrenic patients categorized as with low negative symptoms (N=14) and with moderate negative symptoms (N=14) and 13 healthy subjects. Plasma levels of neurosteroids were measured by radioimmunoassay. Significant correlations of SANS scores with plasma levels of ACTH, cortisol and testosterone, but not progesterone and DHEA-S, were found in the male schizophrenic patients. Furthermore, plasma levels of ACTH, cortisol, and testosterone in the male schizophrenic patients with moderate negative symptoms, but not low negative symptoms, were significantly different from normal controls. The measurements of plasma neurosteroid levels could be a useful biological marker for the severity of negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, Negative symptoms, Testosterone, Progesterone, ACTH, Cortisol