Background: Soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin) is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) but this association has not been evaluated in patients with schizophrenia. This study primarily evaluated the association of sP-selectin with plasma lipids and nitrite (NO2-) respectively in overweight/obese adults with schizophrenia.
Methods: One-hundred and six patients with schizophrenia (mean age 32.9 years; 71.60% male) were recruited from a psychiatric hospital. Participants completed a structured interview and provided a fasting blood sample. Body mass index (BMI) was used to divide the sample into normal weight and overweight/obese groups. Pearson's and partial correlation coefficients (controlling for age, sex, race, education, and inflammation) were calculated to examine the association of sP-selectin with plasma lipids, and NO2- in the overweight/obese patients (primary analysis), as well as in the normal weight patients and the total sample (exploratory analyses).
Results: After controlling for potential confounders, sP-selectin positively correlated with triglycerides (r = 0.38, p = 0.01) and NO2- (r = 0.40, p < 0.01) in the overweight/obese group only.
Conclusions: Future longitudinal studies should evaluate the utility of sP-selectin as a biomarker of CVD in overweight/obese adults with schizophrenia (for example, by relating sP-selectin to incidence of cardiovascular events).
Keywords: P-selectin; atherosclerosis; nitrite; overweight/obesity; schizophrenia.