Obesity, antioxidants and negative symptom improvement in first-episode schizophrenia patients treated with risperidone

Negative symptoms remain a main therapeutic challenge in patients with schizophrenia (SZ). Obesity is associated with more severe negative symptoms after the first episode of psychosis. Oxidative stress caused by an impaired antioxidant defense system is involved in the pathophysiology of SZ. Yet, it is unclear regarding the role of obesity and antioxidants in negative symptom improvements in SZ. Therefore, this longitudinal study was designed to assess the impact of obesity on antioxidant defenses and negative symptom improvements in first-episode SZ patients. A total of 241 medication-naive and first-episode patients with SZ were treated with risperidone for 3 months. Outcome measures including symptoms, body weight, and total antioxidant status (TAS) levels were measured at baseline and the end of the third month. We found that after 12 weeks of treatment with risperidone, the body weight increased and clinical symptoms significantly improved. Baseline body mass index (BMI) was negatively correlated with negative symptom improvement after treatment and an increase in TAS was negatively associated with an increase in BMI only in the high BMI group. More importantly, the TAS x BMI interaction at baseline was an independent predictor of negative symptom improvement. Our longitudinal study indicates that the improvement in negative symptoms by risperidone was associated with baseline BMI and TAS levels in patients with SZ. Baseline BMI and TAS may be a predictor for negative improvement in SZ patients after risperidone treatment.