Journal of Basic Research in Medical Sciences

en Effect of Risperidone Treatment on Hematological Indices in Schizophrenia Patients Medical immunology Medical immunology پژوهشي Research Introduction: Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a complex psychiatric disorder of unknown pathogenesis, characterized by a spectrum of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dysfunctions.  Recent studies have shown that SCZ is associated with immunological and hematological alterations. These alterations offer potential insights into the underlying biological mechanisms and may serve as biomarkers for diagnosis or therapeutic targets. Nonetheless, the relationship between these alterations and antipsychotic medications remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of risperidone treatment on hematological inflammatory indices, complete blood count (CBC), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and mean platelet volume-to-lymphocyte ratio (MPVLR) in patients with schizophrenia. Materials & Methods: The study group consisted of 44 SCZ and 44 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Blood samples were collected from SCZ patients before and after three months of treatment, as well as from healthy individuals. In pre-treatment, risperidone monotherapy, and healthy control groups, CBC was performed, and PLR, NLR, and MPVLR were calculated. Clinical symptoms were evaluated by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) before and after treatment. Results:  Despite the reduction of NLR and PLR (p < 0.001 and p = 0.007, respectively), PLR remained significantly higher in post-treatment patients than in the healthy control group (p = 0.01). Given the NLR factor, no significant difference was observed between healthy control and post-treatment groups. There were no significant differences in the MPVLR factor among the three groups. Conclusion:  The findings of this study suggest that risperidone therapy resulted in a reduction in NLR and PLR changes with improvement in symptoms, indicating its immunomodulatory effects in SCZ treatment. Such an inexpensive CBC-derived ratio may be considered a monitoring biomarker for treatment responses Antipsychotic, NLR, PLR, MPVLR, Schizophrenia 19 28 http://jbrms.medilam.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1585-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Esfandiar Azizi Azizi-e@medilam.ac.ir 10031947532846008552 10031947532846008552 No Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran Zahra Sharifi Sharifi-z@gmail.com 10031947532846008553 0009-0006-8383-4132 No Sarablah Department of Education, Ilam Province General Directorate of Education, Ilam, Iran Aliashraf Mozafari amozafari99@yahoo.com 10031947532846008554 10031947532846008554 No Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran Amir yarhosseini Yarhosseni-a@medilam.ac.ir 10031947532846008555 10031947532846008555 No Imam Ali hospital, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Sarableh, Ilam, Iran Ali Norizadeh Norizadeh-a@medilam.ac.ir 10031947532846008556 10031947532846008556 No Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran Ali sharifi sharifi-a@medilam.ac.ir 10031947532846008557 10031947532846008557 No Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Emam Khomeini Hospital, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran Ali Seidkhani-Nahal seidkhani-a@medilam.ac.ir 10031947532846008558 10031947532846008558 Yes Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran