Key clinical point: Patients with schizophrenia have higher serum levels of inflammatory markers, which can accurately predict therapeutic effects.

Major finding: The serum levels of the cytokines IL-1ß, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-8 were significantly elevated in patients with schizophrenia compared with controls. Higher levels of IL-6 (P = .027) and lower levels of IL-8 (P = .035) predicted better improvement in negative symptoms, whereas higher levels of IL-6 (P = .002) predicted a reduced improvement in depressive symptoms.

Study details: The data come from a study which included 35 patients with schizophrenia and 36 healthy controls.

Disclosures: The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Shaanxi Province Innovation Capacity Support Program, and Shaanxi Provincial Key Research and Development Program. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.