Key clinical point: Serum epidermal growth factor (EGF) level is significantly low in patients with schizophrenia even after treatment with antipsychotic alone or combined with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), regardless of clinical response.

Major finding: Baseline serum EGF was significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia than in controls (1.87 ± 0.05 vs. 1.98 ± 0.04). Serum EGF levels remained lower after treatment with antipsychotics (alone or with ECT). Neither baseline EGF nor change in EGF level was associated with the clinical response to antipsychotic alone or combined with ECT.

Study details: Study compared serum EGF in 186 patients with schizophrenia before and after treatment with antipsychotics alone (n=119) or combined with ECT (n=67).

Disclosures: This study was funded by Suzhou Key Medical Center for Psychiatric Diseases, The Scientific and Technological Program of Suzhou, Introduction Project of Suzhou Clinical Expert Team, Medical scientific research project of Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Health and Family Planning, Medical youth talent projects in Jiangsu Province, Key Diagnosis and treatment Program of Suzhou and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.