Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a common complication of schizophrenia that is quite exacerbated by long-term use of (atypical) antipsychotics. The mechanism of MetS has neuronal, neuroendocrine, and neuroimmunological components and shows some overlap with those of aspects of schizophrenia. We examined 195 patients with schizophrenia (90 with and 105 without MetS) for the association of serum levels of ghrelin, insulin, and leptin with metabolic abnormalities. Serum glucose levels and lipid profiles were routinely measured with colorimetric enzymatic methods and hormone levels with multiplex analyzers. Leptin levels were highly significantly increased (p < 0.001) in people with MetS (9.966 [5.882; 21.496] vs. 6.35 [2.005; 11.753], Me [Q1; Q3]) and ghrelin levels were actually significantly decreased (p = 0.045). Insulin levels did not differ significantly between those with and without MetS (p = 0.162). In Spearman’s correlation analysis between the hormone levels, body characteristics, and biochemical parameters, significant correlations were seen somewhat more often in people without MetS than in those with MetS and also less often for ghrelin than for the other hormones. We conclude that evidence exists for a role in the development of MetS especially for leptin, but that less is supporting a role for ghrelin.
Keywords: antipsychotics; body mass index; ghrelin; insulin; leptin; metabolic syndrome; schizophrenia.