Prognostic roles of c-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate as acute phase reactants in mentally challenged subjects

Abstract

Background: A mental disorder is a psychiatric disease that presents as mild or severe disturbances in a person’s behavior, mood, or thought. Mental illnesses are very common because of excessive stress. Recent studies show that mental illnesses are on the rise generally because of increasing stress. In Nigeria, medical records suggest an upsurge in mental health cases since the onset of the country’s economic downturn and the consequent trauma following it. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is an indirect marker of serum acute-phase protein concentrations, whereas C-reactive protein (CRP) is a direct protein measurement and it is inherently more well-defined. This study thus evaluated the roles of ESR and CRP as sensitive markers of inflammation and correlated their levels with severity stratification and prognosis in schizophrenic patients.

Materials and Methods: This is a case-control study, and it was carried out on 40 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Thirty (30) controls were matched for age and sex; 8 millimeters of venous blood was collected from each participant using ante-cubital veins. Samples collected were dispensed into appropriate bottles for
analysis of CRP and hematological parameters using standard laboratory procedures. Statistical analysis of the data was done appropriately and P-value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant.

Results: At the end of the study, the mean granulocytes, ESR, and CRP were significantly higher in schizophrenia cases than in the controls, while the mean PCV, RBC, and hemoglobin were significantly lower in the subjects. CRP had a higher area than ESR under the ROC curve (AUROC).

Conclusion: This study thus evaluated the role of ESR and CRP as sensitive markers of inflammation and acute phase reactants in schizophrenic patients. The findings showed that CRP was a better diagnostic or predictor treatment outcome of schizophrenia.

Keywords: schizophrenia, acute phase reactants, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, inflammation