Some patients with schizophrenia have impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function. However, there is a dearth of studies focusing on corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) levels in the brains of schizophrenia patients, which motivated us to examine whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) CRH concentrations are altered in these patients. We also examined the possible correlation of CSF CRH level with clinical variables such as schizophrenia symptoms and antipsychotic medication. The study population comprised 20 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia according to DSM-5 criteria and 25 healthy controls, who underwent lumbar puncture. Most of the patients were treated with antipsychotic drugs and their doses were converted to chlorpromazine (CP) equivalent values. CSF CRH concentrations were measured by an enzyme immunoassay. Symptom severity was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). There was a significantly lower CSF CRH concentration in the patients than in the controls (Mann-Whitney U test: p = 0.014). A significantly negative correlation of CSF CRH levels with PANSS negative scores was found in the patients (Spearman's: ρ = -0.58, p = 0.007). However, CSF CRH concentrations were not significantly correlated with the PANSS total (ρ = -0.035, p = 0.89), positive (ρ = 0.25, p = 0.30), or general psychopathology (ρ = 0.13, p = 0.59) scores. No significant correlation was found with CP equivalent values (ρ = 0.00, p = 1.00). In conclusion, we found that the patients with schizophrenia had lower CSF CRH concentrations compared to the controls and that the lower CSF CRH was associated with negative symptoms of the illness. Further studies in a larger sample and in drug-free patients are warranted.

中文翻译：

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慢性精神分裂症患者阴性时脑脊液CRH浓度降低。

一些精神分裂症患者的下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴功能受损。但是，目前尚无集中于精神分裂症患者大脑中促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素（CRH）水平的研究，这促使我们检查这些患者的脑脊液（CSF）CRH浓度是否改变。我们还检查了脑脊液CRH水平与临床变量（例如精神分裂症症状和抗精神病药物）的可能相关性。该研究人群包括20名根据DSM-5标准诊断为精神分裂症的患者和25名接受了腰椎穿刺的健康对照。大多数患者接受了抗精神病药物治疗，其剂量被换算为氯丙嗪（CP）当量值。通过酶免疫测定法测定CSF CRH浓度。使用阳性和阴性综合征量表（PANSS）评估症状严重程度。与对照组相比，患者的CSF CRH浓度明显降低（Mann-Whitney U检验：p = 0.014）。在患者中发现CSF CRH水平与PANSS阴性评分呈显着负相关（Spearman's：ρ= -0.58，p = 0.007）。然而，脑脊液CRH浓度与PANSS总分（ρ= -0.035，p = 0.89），阳性（ρ= 0.25，p = 0.30）或一般精神病理学（ρ= 0.13，p = 0.59）得分没有显着相关。与CP等效值（ρ= 0.00，p = 1.00）没有发现显着相关性。总之，我们发现精神分裂症患者的脑脊液CRH浓度低于对照组，并且脑脊液CRH较低与疾病的阴性症状有关。