Recent findings indicated impaired insulin/glucose homeostasis in drug-naïve individuals with first-episode schizophrenia.
“Before the introduction of antipsychotics, links between schizophrenia and abnormal glucose metabolism levels were found in the late 1800s as an increased prevalence of diabetes in families with a history of ‘insanity,’” Johann Steiner, MD, PhD, of University of Magdeburg, Germany, and colleagues wrote. “Furthermore, it is known that some patients with psychosis require higher dosages than other patients when applying insulin therapy, suggestive of insulin resistance.”
To determine if insulin resistance in schizophrenia can be distinguished from stress-related and medication effects, researchers evaluated homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and stress hormone levels among 24 drug-naïve individuals with first-episode schizophrenia and 24 controls. Urine and blood samples were obtained in the morning after participants fasted.
HOMA-IR was twice as high among participants with schizophrenia (median IQR = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.38-2.28), compared with controls (median IQR = 0.36; 95% 0.26-0.84; P = .02).