Markers of systemic inflammation and systemic endotoxinemia in patients with acute endogenous psychoses

Abstract

Background: Recent studies have suggested involvement of inflammation in the pathogenesis of endogenous mental disorders. The activity of innate immunity (increased activities of leukocyte elastase (LE) and a1-proteinase inhibitor (a1-PI)) and the level of autoantibodies to neuroantigens reflect severity of the pathological process in brain. The pathogenic form of systemic endotoxinemia (SE), that is, endotoxin aggression (EA), a pathological process caused by excessive endotoxin (ET) in the bloodstream, is considered as one of the factors initiating systemic inflammation.
Objective: to determine the relationship between markers of systemic inflammation and indexes of systemic endotoxinemia in patients with endogenous psychoses to evaluate the role of EA in the pathogenesis of these disorders.
Materials and methods: The study included 25 female patients aged 23 to 49 years with endogenous psychoses (F20, F25 according to ICD-10). All patients experienced exacerbation of psychotic symptoms. Psychometric evaluation was performed using the PANSS scale. The control group consisted of 25 healthy women. LE and a1-PI activities and levels of antibodies to S100-B and MBP (Neuro-Immuno-Test technology), endotoxin concentration (ET) (Micro-LAL-test), and antiendotoxin immunity activity
(AIA) (SOIS-IFA technology) were measured in the patients’ blood.
Results: The patients had significantly increased serum activities of LE and a1-PI. The autoimmune component to neuroantigens was detected in 44% of cases. In 24% of patients with significantly increased activities of inflammatory markers, ET concentrations were increased, and AIA (mainly to the hydrophilic part of the ET molecule) was deficient, which is an unfavorable factor that aggravates the clinical course of disease. In 76% of patients, the ET concentration remained within reference values; however, AIA levels were variable, which likely resulted from a previous EA. The studied biological indexes were shown to be correlated and linked to severity of clinical symptoms as determined with PANSS.
Conclusion: The study demonstrated a relationship between systemic inflammatory markers and SE indexes and their involvement in the pathogenesis of endogenous psychoses.