Anti-Inflammatory Treatment of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has been hypothesized to be due, in part, to disruptions of normal immune system and inflammatory responses to viral or bacterial infections or other stimuli of these systems. Epidemiological and clinical studies have provided extensive evidence that perinatal exposure to infection contributes to the etiology of schizophrenia. The recent reports of associations between markers of single nucleotide polymorphisms located within the major histocompatibility complex on chromosome 6p22.1 and schizophrenia provide further support for etiological hypotheses of immune system dysfunction in schizophrenia. There are a large number of reports that suggest that people with schizophrenia have altered cytokine levels, with one or more studies reporting elevated levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines: IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, CRP, IFN-γ, and TNF-α; and reduced levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine: IL-10. In this study we examine the use of combination anti-inflammatory therapy as an intervention in patients with schizophrenia. We will use 1. Salsalate, 4 gm/day. Salsalate is a potent inhibitor of nuclear transcription factor NF-κB activation. NF-κB is activated by pro-inflammatory cytokines; 2. Omega-3-fatty acids eicosapentaenoic (EPA; 2 gm/day) and docosahexaenoic (DHA; 2 gm/day). Omega-3-fatty acids exert their anti-inflammatory effects through their oxygenation into resolvins or protectins, which are potent anti-inflammatory agents; 3. Fluvastatin, 40 mgs/day. Fluvastatin is a lipid-lowering drugs, which acts through the inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA). Fluvastatin may also exert anti-inflammatory effects independent of its lipid-lowering effects via a mechanism involving HMG-CoA inhibition and decreased NF-κB activation. We have chosen to use combination therapy with three different classes of anti-inflammatory agents to address the potential benefit of this therapeutic approach for persistent positive symptoms and cognitive impairments. The three agents have unique anti-inflammatory mechanisms of action, which we believe offers the most robust evaluation of this therapeutic approach and maximizes the likelihood of eliciting pronounced therapeutic effects.