Objectives: Cardiometabolic syndromes are the most common causes of complications shortening life expectancy in patients treated for mental disorders, especially schizophrenia. However, how much cardiometabolic risk is related to lifestyle, side-effects of treatment or psychosis is not clear. The aim of this study was a prospective assessment of metabolic changes in young, initially somatically healthy patients diagnosed with the first acute episode of psychosis with no prior pharmacological treatment.
Methods: The study involved 15 young patients (average age of 19.95 ± 6.88 years). Analyses (laboratory and clinical) were performed at the time of admission and after 3 and 12 weeks and included morphology, lipid profile, glucose, inflammation markers, blood pressure (BP), and body mass index (BMI). The severity of clinical symptoms was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the cognitive functioning was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) was also measured.
Results: There was a significant increase in BMI, dyslipidemia, inflammation, and systolic blood pressure after 12 weeks from the start of the treatment, while cortisol level decreased. A negative correlation was observed between PANSS-P (PANSS positivescale) measurements and total cholesterol, PANSS total and low-density lipoprotein, as well as DUPand MoCA. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) correlated positively with DUP, cortisol, monocytes, and white blood cells in the first week.
Conclusions: The results of the study indicate a relationship between the development and treatment of the first acute episode of psychosis and the results of laboratory tests that are indicators of the development of metabolic stress in patients.
Keywords: dyslipidemia; first-episode psychosis; metabolic syndrome.