CSF corticotropin releasing hormone, somatostatin, and thyrotropin releasing hormone in schizophrenia

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), somatostatin (SRIF), and thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) were measured by specific radioimmunoassay methods in 86 patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder and in 30 neurologic controls. The multivariate CSF peptide concentration was significantly different in patients compared with controls, but none of the individual variable differences reached statistical significance when analyzed separately. There were no significant CSF neuropeptide differences among patients with various schizophrenic subtypes. Neither global severity of illness nor individual symptoms were correlated with CSF neuropeptide concentrations. Although schizophrenic patients showed a pattern of mildly lower SRIF and TRH levels in their CSF, together with a weak tendency for higher CSF CRH values, these peptide changes did not appear to be specifically related to the core features of schizophrenia.