Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness. Levels of oxytocin have been proposed as a biomarker of schizophrenia; however, the observed levels of oxytocin in individuals with schizophrenia have been inconsistent across studies. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate oxytocin levels in plasma, serum and cerebrospinal fluid to see if there are statistically different concentrations between individuals with schizophrenia and the comparison group. The meta-analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 14 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The quality of the study was evaluated by the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). A random-effects model was performed using the Comprehensive Meta-analysis software with the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Serum oxytocin levels in individuals with schizophrenia were significantly lower than that in comparison group (SMD = − 1.74, 95% CI = − 3.22 to − 0.26, p = 0.02) but cerebrospinal fluid oxytocin levels in individuals with schizophrenia were significantly higher than those in the comparison group (SMD = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.05 to 1.04, p = 0.03). Our results suggest that oxytocin levels in cerebrospinal fluid are increased in individuals with schizophrenia but decreased in serum. Therefore, the oxytocin system dysregulation may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and it should be measured in more populations for a possible implementation as a biomarker of schizophrenia.

精神分裂症是一种使人衰弱的精神疾病。催产素水平已被提议作为精神分裂症的生物标志物。然而，在不同研究中观察到的精神分裂症患者的催产素水平并不一致。我们进行了一项荟萃分析，以评估血浆、血清和脑脊液中的催产素水平，以了解精神分裂症患者与对照组之间是否存在统计学上不同的浓度。荟萃分析遵循系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目（PRISMA）声明。按照纳入和排除标准，14项研究被纳入荟萃分析。研究质量由纽卡斯尔-渥太华量表（NOS）评估。使用具有标准化平均差 (SMD) 和 95% 置信区间 (CI) 的综合 Meta 分析软件进行随机效应模型。精神分裂症患者的血清催产素水平显着低于对照组（SMD = - 1.74, 95% CI = - 3.22 to - 0.26,p  = 0.02）但精神分裂症患者的脑脊液催产素水平显着高于对照组（SMD = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.05 to 1.04, p  = 0.03）。我们的研究结果表明，精神分裂症患者脑脊液中的催产素水平升高，但血清中的催产素水平降低。因此，催产素系统失调可能在精神分裂症的病理生理学中发挥作用，应该在更多人群中进行测量，以作为精神分裂症的生物标志物。