No changes in serum epidermal growth factor levels in patients with schizophrenia

Hashimoto, Kenji; Shimizu, Eiji; Komatsu, Naoya; Watanabe, Hiroyuki; Shinoda, Naoyuki; Nakazato, Michiko; Kumakiri, Chikara; Okada, Shin-ichi; Takei, Nori; Iyo, Masaomi

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2003.11.006

« PreviousPsychiatry Research
Volume 135, Issue 3 , Pages 257-260, 30 June 2005

No changes in serum epidermal growth factor levels in patients with schizophrenia

Kenji Hashimoto
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 43 226 2147/2149; fax: +81 43 226 2150.
Eiji Shimizu
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
Naoya Komatsu
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
Hiroyuki Watanabe
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
Naoyuki Shinoda
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
Michiko Nakazato
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
Chikara Kumakiri
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
Shin-ichi Okada
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan
Nori Takei
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan
- Section of General Psychiatry, Division of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK
Masaomi Iyo
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chiba 260-8670, Japan

Received 30 December 2002; received in revised form 23 August 2003; accepted 17 November 2003.

Abstract

A recent report demonstrated that serum levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF) were significantly decreased in patients with schizophrenia, suggesting that impaired EGF signaling might be associated with the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Our goal in the present study was to determine whether serum levels of EGF are altered in patients with schizophrenia. We found that serum levels of EGF in drug-naive (n=15) or medicated patients (n=25) with schizophrenia did not differ from those of age- and sex-matched normal controls (n=40). However, we found a significant correlation between serum EGF levels and BPRS scores in the combined groups of patients. Therefore, our results do not support the claim that EGF plays a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, but they suggest that EGF may serve as a state marker, that is, as an index of symptom-linked deficits.