Elevated serum chemokine CCL22 levels in first-episode psychosis: associations with symptoms, peripheral immune state and in vivo brain glial cell function.

ABSTRACT: Several lines of research support immune system dysregulation in psychotic disorders. However, it remains unclear whether the immunological marker alterations are stable and how they associate with brain glial cell function. This longitudinal study aimed at investigating whether peripheral immune functions are altered in the early phases of psychotic disorders, whether the changes are associated with core symptoms, remission, brain glial cell function, and whether they persist in a one-year follow-up. Two independent cohorts comprising in total of 129 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and 130 controls were assessed at baseline and at the one-year follow-up. Serum cyto-/chemokines were measured using a 38-plex Luminex assay. The FEP patients showed a marked increase in chemokine CCL22 levels both at baseline (p?11C]PBR28 in subgroups of 15 healthy controls and 14 FEP patients with serum CCL22/CCL17 measurements. The distribution volume (V_T) of [¹¹C]PBR28 was lower in patients compared to controls (p?=?0.026; Cohen's d?=?0.94) without regionally specific effects, and was inversely associated with serum CCL22 and CCL17 levels (p?=?0.036). Our results do not support the over-active microglia hypothesis of psychosis, but indicate altered CCR4 immune signaling in early psychosis with behavioral correlates possibly mediated through cross-talk between chemokine networks and dysfunctional or a decreased number of glial cells.

SUBMITTER: Laurikainen H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7075957 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature