We have previously shown that patients with severe depressive episode exhibit higher aldosterone concentrations compared to those with moderate depressive episode. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that circulating concentration of aldosterone reflect the clinical state in patients with schizophrenia. The sample consisted of 36 hospitalized patients (25 men, 11 women) with the first episode or long-term course of schizophrenia. The severity of psychopathology was evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Samples for measurement of serum aldosterone were obtained immediately after awakening. The results showed that serum aldosterone concentrations were lower in patients with the first episode compared to those in patients with long-term course of schizophrenia. Importantly, lower aldosterone concentrations observed in patients with the first episode were associated with more severe clinical symptoms as indicated by all subscales of PANSS. Serum cortisol concentrations did not differ between the groups, while the aldosterone/cortisol ratio showed similar pattern as aldosterone concentrations. The present pilot study suggests that circulating aldosterone in patients with schizophrenia may reflect the severity of clinical symptoms but in an opposite direction than in patients with major depressive disorder.

Department of Psychiatry Medical Faculty of Masaryk University University Hospital Brno and Czech Republic

Department of Psychiatry Medical Faculty of Masaryk University University Hospital Brno and Czech Republic; Applied Neurosciences Research Group Central European Institute of Technology Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Experimental Endocrinology Biomedical Research Center Slovak Academy of Sciences Bratislava Slovakia

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Selected neuroendocrine factors as potential molecular biomarkers of early non-affective psychosis course in relation to treatment outcome: A pilot study