Abstract

Inflammatory Markers and Reduced Response to Physical Intervention in Schizophrenia: A Controlled Study with Chronic Outpatients

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a complex chronic mental health disorder; this disease also shows signs of systemic inflammatory injury and possible muscle damage. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a 3-month aerobic physical intervention program on functional capacity, systemic inflammatory response, and muscle damage in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in comparison with healthy controls.

Method: This is a paired clinical trial of physical intervention with patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Functional capacity was explored with a 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), the systemic inflammatory response was assessed High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP), and muscle damage Creatine Kinase (CK) and lactate.

Results: Forty-eight patients concluded the intervention (24 cases with mean age of 39.3 ± 2.55 and 24 controls with mean age of 40.1 ± 2.51); patients with schizophrenia had a worse physical performance compared to controls. On the other hand, patients with schizophrenia showed significant clinical improvement in body mass index, blood pressure, whereas the lactate increased after physical intervention.

Conclusion: The physical activity improved cardiometabolic variables, but did not improve functional capacity in people with schizophrenia, so there is a need for physical interventions for this group of patients.

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