Assessment of intestinal barrier integrity and associations with innate immune activation and metabolic syndrome in acutely ill, antipsychotic-free schizophrenia patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Schizophrenia (Sz), once seen solely as a brain disorder, is now recognised as a systemic illness involving immune and metabolic dysregulation. The intestinal barrier has emerged as a key player in gut-brain-immune interactions. However, studies in early, antipsychotic free stages remain scarce and often neglect confounding factors such as smoking and metabolic syndrome.

Methods

We measured two complementary markers: lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), reflecting endotoxin exposure and systemic immune activation, and intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP), indicating gut epithelial damage and permeability changes, in blood from 96 acutely ill, antipsychotic-free Sz patients (61 first-episode, 35 relapsed) and 96 matched controls. Associations with in

SUBMITTER: Mukherjee K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12519603 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature