Comparative cytokine signatures and cognitive deficits in early-onset schizophrenia and adolescent major depression: Toward refined diagnostic classification frameworks

This study analyzed plasma cytokine patterns in individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ), major depressive disorder (MDD), and healthy controls, explored the link between cytokine levels and cognitive function, and created machine learning models to evaluate the diagnostic potential of cytokine and cognitive assessments.

This study involved 64 early-onset SCZ patients, 53 adolescents with MDD, and 33 healthy controls. The plasma concentrations of 44 cytokines were measured using the LUMINEX multiplex assay. Cognitive function was tested with the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Random Forest and Extreme Gradient Boosting models were used for classification, with their effectiveness evaluated via ROC curve analysis.

SCZ patients exhibited significantly elevated levels of CCL11, IL-2 and IL-13, while MDD patients displayed increased CXCL2 and G-CSF levels but decreased CCL20 and CCL11 levels. SCZ patients showed significant cognitive impairments compared to healthy controls. Elevated CCL11 were associated with poorer memory accuracy, and higher G-CSF were linked to worse executive function. The XGBoost model was more sensitive in classifying MDD than the Random Forest model, but both struggled to differentiate SCZ patients from healthy controls due to low specificity.

Early-onset SCZ and adolescent MDD patients showed unique peripheral cytokine profiles, with SCZ patients experiencing significant cognitive deficits. The cytokine CCL11 was found to have a significant association with cognitive dysfunction. Cytokine levels and cognitive assessments may serve as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of MDD.