Objective: Overweight/obesity is highly prevalent in schizophrenia (Sch), which can perturb brain function and correlate with symptom severity. An impaired antioxidant defense system is involved in the pathophysiology of Sch and obesity. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the impact of overweight/obesity on the antioxidant enzymes and the response to risperidone in patients with Sch. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-nine patients with Sch were recruited and received 12-week treatment with risperidone. Clinical symptoms, weight, and antioxidant enzyme were measured at baseline and week 12. objective: Overweight/obesity is highly prevalent in schizophrenia (Sch), which can perturb brain function and correlate with symptom severity. An impaired antioxidant defense system is involved in the pathophysiology of Sch and obesity. This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the impact of overweight/obesity on the antioxidant enzymes and the response to risperidone in patients with Sch. Results: Non-obese patients with Sch showed decreased GSHPx activity after treatment with risperidone but no difference in obese patients. In obese patients, GSHPx activity was associated with an improvement in positive symptoms. Meanwhile, in non-obese patients, a reduction in GSHPx activity was correlated with an improvement in general psychology. Conclusion: This study suggests that obesity at the onset influences the improvement in the clinical symptoms after treatment with risperidone in patients with Sch, which is related to its modulations on GSHPx.
Yao et al. (Thu,) studied this question.