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Introduction. Associations of disturbances in innate and adaptive immunity during the clinical course of schizophrenia have been found in a number of studies. Yet, the relationship of immune parameters and systemic inflammation in relation to the clinical course of the disease and its prognosis, remains poorly understood, which highlights an interesting topic for further research. The goal of this study was to research the immuno-inflammatory changes in patients with clinical continuous and episodic paranoid schizophrenia, to assess the pathogenetic significance of these changes. Methods. Thirty-six patients with paranoid schizophrenia, of which 20 had episodic symptoms and 16 had continuous symptoms, consented to participate in the study, together with 30 healthy volunteers. In the study we assessed the parameters of innate immune response (serum levels of key pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, C-reactive protein) and the adaptive immune response, including humoral-mediated immunity (serum immunoglobulins IgA, IgM, IgG, circulating immune complexes), as well as the cell link of adaptive immunity (key lymphocyte subpopulations). Positive and negative symptoms were assessed with the positive and negative symptoms scale; frontal dysfunction was assessed by Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). Results. Both patient groups had higher than normal levels of C-reactive protein and IL-8. There was a significant elevation of circulating immune complexes among patients with continuous symptoms of schizophrenia, compared to patients with episodic symptoms and healthy controls. Levels of CD45+CD3+ lymphocytes (T-cells) differed between clinical groups, with higher values identified among patients with episodic symptoms and lower values among those with continuous symptoms. In addition, patients with episodic symptoms had significantly increased levels of CD45+CD3+CD4+CD25+CD127- regulatory T-cells. Finally, the level of CD45+CD3-CD19+ B-cells was significantly higher among patients with continuous symptoms vs. patients with episodic symptoms and the control groups. Markers of activation of humoral immunity were associated with the severity of frontal disorders in these patients. Discussion. Comprehensive data on the serum level of cytokines and the parameters of adaptive immunity among individuals with continuous schizophrenia, by comparison with patients with episodic schizophrenia, are practically absent in the literature. We have shown that among those with continuous schizophrenia, there are signs of systemic inflammation and chronic activation of the adaptive humoral immune response, while among patients with episodic symptoms of the disease, there are signs of systemic inflammation and certain activation of cell-mediated immunity, without significant changes in the humoral link of adaptive immunity. Conclusion. More studies are needed, but the data obtained in this study are important for subsequent clinical studies of new treatment methods, based on various immunophenotypes of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease characterized by psychosis, behavioral, cognitive and social impairments. It is accompanied by structural and functional changes in the brain. To confirm the significance of morphometric changes, it is important to establish relationships between structural changes in the brain, clinical symptoms, and the level of biomarkers reflecting the pathogenesis of the disease, including immunological markers. The aim of this work was to assess the relationship of interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels with systemic inflammation, immune activation and with the results of neuroimaging in schizophrenia. The study included 60 patients with schizophrenia, 25 healthy volunteers. MRI scanning and the assessment of key immunological parameters was performed. It was found that the patients had significant negative correlations between IL-6 levels and a number of structural MRI indicators. Patients with a marked increase in IL-6 levels (>15 pg / ml) had a reduced mean curvature in the left lingual gyrus and a reduced gyrification index in the left fusiform gyrus compared with the control group. The level of IL-6 was associated with signs of systemic inflammation and immune activation in the patients. Thus, in this work, an immunological profile in schizophrenia associated with an increase in IL-6 and with morphometric changes of the brain was characterized for the first time. In further studies, we plan to evaluate morphometric changes in patients with various immunological phenotypes of schizophrenia, clinical course of the disease, and factors of genetic predisposition.

To study the prevalence of somatic diseases in patients with mental disorders based on the results of medical examination in Moscow mental health clinics in 2018.A retrospective analysis of the results of the clinical examinations of 6492 outpatients, which accounted for 79.5% of patients who underwent medical examination in this time period.Comorbid somatic diseases were found in 4883 (75%) patients. Hypertension and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were most frequent with the prevalence higher than in the general population of the Russian Federation. Patients with diagnosed schizophrenia, along with hypertension and diabetes mellitus, have found to be at increased risk of diseases of the endocrine system and metabolic disorders. The incidence of the mentioned diseases is not higher than that reported in literature.The higher prevalence of socially relevant diseases (hypertension, diabetes mellitus) among patients with mental disorders demands the development of strategies for prevention, early detection and treatment of these diseases in psychiatric patients.Изучение распространенности соматических расстройств у пациентов с психическими заболеваниями на основании анализа сплошной выборки по результатам диспансеризации больных в лечебных учреждениях Москвы в 2018 г.Проведен ретроспективный анализ результатов диспансеризации 6492 человек, что составило 79,5% пациентов, подлежавших диспансеризации.Коморбидные соматические расстройства выявлены у 75% пациентов, страдающих психическими заболеваниями. Преобладали в общей выборке гипертоническая болезнь и инсулиннезависимый сахарный диабет, распространенность которых была значительно выше, чем в общей популяции РФ. У больных шизофренией наряду с указанными двумя заболеваниями были выявлены другие нарушения со стороны эндокринной системы, обмена веществ, при этом их распространенность соответствовала данным литературы. Наличие таких социально-значимых заболеваний, как гипертоническая болезнь и диабет, обусловливает целесообразность разработки стратегии по предупреждению, раннему выявлению и лечению данных заболеваний у психически больных.

The aim of the work is to study the level of systemic inflammation and changes in adaptive immunity in the early period after acute psychosis to assess their participation in the pathogenesis of alcoholic mental and cognitive disorders. We examined 28 patients with alcoholic psychosis (AP) and a control group of 17 healthy volunteers. Indicators of systemic inflammation and immunity, including key cytokines and lymphocyte subpopulations, were investigated. After acute psychosis of patients with alcoholism, pronounced activation of humoral immunity with impaired clearance of immune complexes, increased content and activity of Th2 with signs of insufficiency and dysfunction of Th1, reduced content and activity of cytotoxicity system cells and signs of systemic inflammation (increased CRP, cortisol, cytokines). Activation of Th2 response and an excess of proinflammatory mediators in patients with AP through various ways of interaction with the Central nervous system (n. vagus, choroidal plexus of the ventricles, and others) can participate in the disorders of metabolism of neurotransmitters in the Central nervous system involved in the pathogenesis of alcoholism, and in the maintenance of neuroinflammation. A high level of systemic inflammation can be both a trigger of psychosis and a manifestation of violations of neuroimmune interactions, as well as the development of excitotoxicity and damage to neurons in acute psychosis.

In this study, for the first time, data were obtained on the architecture of effective connections in extended default neural network in patients with schizophrenia and the healthy controls. Also, a determination of the immunological status of patients was performed. At rest, the effective connectomes of the patients and healthy subjects had significant differences in the strength of connections. Immunological data analysis showed that despite clinical improvement after inpatient treatment, most patients had elevated levels of markers of systemic inflammation and activation of humoral immunity. At the next stage of work, a comprehensive analysis of neurophysiological and immunological data is planned.

The association between cancer risk and schizophrenia is widely debated. Despite many epidemiological studies, there is still no strong evidence regarding the molecular basis for the comorbidity between these two pathological conditions. The vast majority of assays have been performed using clinical records of schizophrenic patients or those undergoing cancer treatment and monitored for sufficient time to find shared features between the considered conditions. We performed mass spectrometry-based proteomic and metabolomic investigations of patients with different cancer phenotypes (breast, ovarian, renal, and prostate) and patients with schizophrenia. The resulting vast quantity of proteomic and metabolomic data were then processed using systems biology and one-dimensional (1D) convolutional neural network (1DCNN) machine learning approaches. Traditional systematic approaches permit the segregation of schizophrenia and cancer phenotypes on the level of biological processes, while 1DCNN recognized "signatures" that could segregate distinct cancer phenotypes and schizophrenia at the comorbidity level. The designed network efficiently discriminated unrelated pathologies with a model accuracy of 0.90 and different subtypes of oncophenotypes with an accuracy of 0.94. The proposed strategy integrates systematic analysis of identified compounds and application of 1DCNN model for unidentified ones to reveal the similarity between distinct phenotypes.

Nervous system lesions associated with chronic alcohol intoxication are common in clinical practice. They lead to aggravated alcoholic disease, its more frequent recurrences, and intensified pathological craving for alcohol. Neurological pathology in turn occurs with frequent exacerbations. The interaction of diseases, age, and medical pathomorphism modifies the clinical presentation and course of the major pathology, as well as comorbidity, the nature and severity of complications, worsens quality of life in a patient, and makes the diagnostic and treatment process difficult. The paper discusses the classification, clinical variants, biochemical and molecular biological aspects of various complications of alcoholic disease. It considers its most common form, in particular alcoholic polyneuropathy, as well as its rarer variants, such as hemorrhagic encephalopathy with a subacute course (Gayet–Wernicke encephalopathy).

This study is aimed at a systematic study of the work of neural networks of the human brain and their architecture in norm and in schizophrenia. To obtain the neurophysiological data, a unique complex of experimental equipment for world-class neurocognitive studies was used. The data obtained showed a significant decrease in the structural connectivity relationships for the rich club coefficient for a group of schizophrenic patients compared with the norm. Perception of emotionally negative visual and audio stimuli related to delusions in patients with schizophrenia does not lead to a significant decrease in BOLD signal as compared with the norm in Calcarine_L, Cerebelum_4_5_R, ParaHippocampal_LR, Precuneus_L, Temporal_Sup_R areas. The differences found in the structural and functional patterns of cognitive-affective disorders can serve as prognostic biomarkers in patients with schizophrenia and will make a significant contribution to the development of high-tech diagnostics in the early stages of mental illness.

Objective. The aim of this study was (1) to examine the leukocyte mtDNA copy number (CN) in unmedicated (SZ (m−)) and medicated (SZ (m+)) male patients with paranoid schizophrenia (SZ) in comparison with the healthy male controls (HC) and (2) to compare the leukocyte mtDNA CN with the content of an oxidation marker 8-oxodG in lymphocytes of the SZ (m−) patients. Methods. We evaluated leukocyte mtDNA CN of 110 subjects with SZ in comparison with 60 male HC by the method qPCR (ratio mtDNA/nDNA (gene B2M) was detected). SZ patients were divided into two subgroups. The patients of the subgroups SZ (m+) (N=55) were treated with standard antipsychotic medications in the hospital. The patients of the subgroup SZ (m−) (N=55) were not treated before venous blood was sampled. To evaluate oxidative DNA damage, we quantified the levels of 8-oxodG in lymphocytes (flow cytometry) of SZ (m−) patients (N=55) and HC (N=30). Results. The leukocyte mtDNA CN showed no significant difference in SZ (m+) patients and HC. The mtDNA CN in the unmedicated subgroup SZ (m−) was significantly higher than that in the SZ (m+) subgroup or in HC group. The level of 8-oxodG in the subgroup SZ (m−) was significantly higher than that in HC group. Conclusion. The leukocytes of the unmedicated SZ male patients with acute psychosis contain more mtDNA than the leukocytes of the male SZ patients treated with antipsychotic medications or the healthy controls. MtDNA content positively correlates with the level of 8-oxodG in the unmedicated SZ patients.

Olfactory neuroepithelium (OE) is shown to be a suitable experimental model to study neuronal biomarkers of psychiatric diseases including schizophrenia. Olfactory neuronal precursors can be useful for studying neurodevelopmental stages, neuronal markers, pharmacological screening. However, a limited number of research groups have used this cell model in a small number of patients and healthy people that can be explained by several factors. Based on literature reports and own research, the authors analyze the advantages and limitations of OE-derived cell/tissue models. The main limitations of these models are decreased rate of harvesting and culturing OE-derived cell and low percentage of patients who agreed to participate in the study. Our results showed that only 10% of patients with schizophrenia signed informed consent for nasal biopsy, 80% of them underwent biopsy.Обонятельный эпителий (ОЭ) рассматривается в качестве экспериментальной модели для исследования нейрональных биомаркеров психических заболеваний, в том числе шизофрении. Эта модель может быть использована для изучения ранних стадий развития головного мозга, нейрональных маркеров, фармакогенетического скрининга. Однако до сих пор об ее использовании сообщалось в работах лишь нескольких исследовательских групп, при этом выборки для исследования насчитывали небольшое число как больных шизофренией, так и психически здоровых. В статье представлен анализ литературы и собственного опыта, демонстрирующий преимущества и ограничения рассматриваемой модели. Основным ограничением широкого использования модели является недостаточная эффективность отбора и последующего выращивания клеток, а также сложность формирования выборки для исследования. В нашем исследовании только 10% из первично отобранных пациентов согласились подписать информированное согласие, из них процедуру биопсии прошли 80%.