Association of Serum Cortisol and Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate level with Schizophrenia: A case control study

Abstract— Schizophrenia is a neuro endocrinal diseases purticularly in volving Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction, which has been widely researched in schizophrenia. Over activation of this axis is known to cause altered blood levels of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S). Present study was conducted with the objective to compare serum levels of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in schizophrenia patients and healthy control. A cross sectional case control observational study was conducted including 40 patients with first-episode schizophrenia along with 40 age and sex matched healthy controls. Patients were diagnosed as Schizophrenia according to ICD-10. Serum cortisol and DHEA-S were assessed in both groups. It was observed in this study that mean Serum level of DHEA-S was significantly (p< 0.001) higher in the Schizophrenia group (4320 ± 1120 µg/dL) as compared to control group (2760 ± 825 µg/dL), while cortisol level did not differ significantly between the two groups. It can be concluded from this study that the first-episode antipsychotic-naïve schizophrenic patients showed a significantly higher blood level of DHEA-S compared with healthy controls indicating role of DHEA-S in patho-physiology of schizophrenia