Objective To investigate the serum amino acid levels in patients with acute schizophrenia(SCZ)and their predictive effect on the improvement of cognitive function after treatment,so as to provide new insights into the clinical intervention of cognitive impairment in SCZ patients.Methods A total of 66 patients with acute SCZ were enrolled(case group-baseline period).Among them,36 cases completed the follow-up after 3 months of standardized treatment(case group-follow-up period);52 healthy controls(HCs)were included.The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery(MCCB)was used to assess the cognitive function of all the participants.Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS)was employed to detect the concentrations of 18 amino acids in fasting serum of the case group-baseline period and the control group.Independent samples t-test was used to compare serum amino acid levels and cognitive function between the case group-baseline period and the control group.Paired t-test was used to compare the differences in cognitive function between the baseline period and the follow-up period of the case group.Spearman correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression model were used to investigate the correlation between serum amino acid levels at baseline in the case group and the improvement of cognitive function after 3 months of treatment.Results Compared with the control group,the cognitive function of SCZ patients in multiple dimensions at baseline was significantly reduced(P＜0.05).After treatment,the scores of Trail Making Test(TMT),Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia:Symbol Coding(BACS),Wechsler Memory Scale-Ⅲ(WMS),and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised(BVMT)in patients were significantly improved(all P＜0.05).In addition,the levels of proline,methionine,histidine,phenylalanine,arginine,tyrosine,aspartic acid,tryptophan,lysine,and glutamic acid were significantly lower in the case group at baseline than in the control group(all P＜0.05).Among them,the baseline tyrosine level had a significant predictive value for the improvement of TMT(R2=0.136,P=0.029),Neuropsychological Assessment Battery(NAB)(R2=0.339,P＜0.001),and Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test(MSCEIT)test(R2=0.165,P=0.015).The baseline arginine level had a significant predictive value for the improvement rate of Fluency test(R2=0.113,P=0.048).Conclusion There is a decrease in various amino acid levels in patients with SCZ,and some amino acids can effectively predict the improvement of cognitive function after treatment.

Objective To investigate the serum amino acid levels in patients with acute schizophrenia(SCZ)and their predictive effect on the improvement of cognitive function after treatment,so as to provide new insights into the clinical intervention of cognitive impairment in SCZ patients.Methods A total of 66 patients with acute SCZ were enrolled(case group-baseline period).Among them,36 cases completed the follow-up after 3 months of standardized treatment(case group-follow-up period);52 healthy controls(HCs)were included.The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery(MCCB)was used to assess the cognitive function of all the participants.Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS)was employed to detect the concentrations of 18 amino acids in fasting serum of the case group-baseline period and the control group.Independent samples t-test was used to compare serum amino acid levels and cognitive function between the case group-baseline period and the control group.Paired t-test was used to compare the differences in cognitive function between the baseline period and the follow-up period of the case group.Spearman correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression model were used to investigate the correlation between serum amino acid levels at baseline in the case group and the improvement of cognitive function after 3 months of treatment.Results Compared with the control group,the cognitive function of SCZ patients in multiple dimensions at baseline was significantly reduced(P＜0.05).After treatment,the scores of Trail Making Test(TMT),Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia:Symbol Coding(BACS),Wechsler Memory Scale-Ⅲ(WMS),and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised(BVMT)in patients were significantly improved(all P＜0.05).In addition,the levels of proline,methionine,histidine,phenylalanine,arginine,tyrosine,aspartic acid,tryptophan,lysine,and glutamic acid were significantly lower in the case group at baseline than in the control group(all P＜0.05).Among them,the baseline tyrosine level had a significant predictive value for the improvement of TMT(R2=0.136,P=0.029),Neuropsychological Assessment Battery(NAB)(R2=0.339,P＜0.001),and Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test(MSCEIT)test(R2=0.165,P=0.015).The baseline arginine level had a significant predictive value for the improvement rate of Fluency test(R2=0.113,P=0.048).Conclusion There is a decrease in various amino acid levels in patients with SCZ,and some amino acids can effectively predict the improvement of cognitive function after treatment.

Objective To investigate the effect of peripheral blood bile acids on the cognitive function of schizophrenia patients.Methods Targeted metabolomics was adopted to analyze the total level of primary and secondary serum bile acid metabolites collected from 23 schizophrenia patients and 23 health control individuals.The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery(MCCB)was adopted to evaluate the subjects'cognitive function in five dimensions.Results We found that the schizophrenia patients had impaired cognitive functions in multiple dimensions including speed of processing,working memory,reasoning and problem solving,and visual learning.Compared with the health control group,serum levels of cholic acid(CA)and chenodeoxycholic acid(CDCA)were significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia,while serum level of glycocholic acid(GCA)was significantly higher,and the ratio of deoxycholic acid(DCA)to CA was higher(3.04 vs.1.16).Speed of processing,working memory,reasoning and problem solving,and visual learning abilities were significantly negatively correlated with serum levels of multiple primary bile acids including taurocholic acid(TCA),GCA,glycochenodeoxycholic acid(GCDCA)and taurochenodeoxycholic acid(TCDCA),after adjustments of age,sex,and body mass index.Conclusion The bile acid profile of schizophrenia patients is obvious,and the decrease in neuroprotective bile acids(namely,CA and CDCA)and the up-regulation of cytotoxic bile acid(i.e.,GCA)may impair the cognitive function of schizophrenia patients.