Evaluation of substance induced and substance free first-episode psychosis in terms of inflammatory whole blood count parameters

Objective: Substance use is known to trigger psychotic episodes in individuals predisposed to psychosis. Recently, the importance of inflammatory processes in psychotic disorders has been increasingly emphasized. This study aimed to examine the manner in which inflammatory whole blood count (WBC) parameters change in substance-induced first-episode psychosis (siFEP) and substance-free first-episode psychosis (sfFEP). Method: The present study included 32 patients with siFEP, 48 patients with sfFEP, and 80 healthy controls. For the comparison of inflammatory WBC parameters between the three groups, age and sex were considered as covariates when MANCOVA was applied; further, LSD post hoc test was performed. The relationship between clinical variables and inflammatory WBC parameters was analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis. Results: Monocyte levels were higher in patients with siFEP than in those with sfFEP and healthy controls, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio values were lower in patients with siFEP than in healthy controls. Furthermore, a moderately significant relationship between duration of illness and monocyte levels was found in the siFEP group. Discussion: The fact that inflammatory WBC parameters differ among the siFEP, sfFEP, and healthy control groups suggests that inflammatory processes contribute to psychotic disorder. However, the data from the present study are still insufficient to support the use of these parameters in clinical practice.