Immune, Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress-Related Biomarkers

In the exploration of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) pathophysiology, the involvement of inflammatory processes, mitochondrial functions, and oxidative stress has been widely considered. Despite this, the controversy persists regarding the effectiveness of utilizing biomarkers associated with these processes for diagnosing SSD patients. This chapter reviews research conducted over the past 12 years (2011–2023), employing the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to evaluate the diagnostic potential of models incorporating immune, inflammatory, and oxidative stress-related biomarkers. The screening involved approximately 2000 SSD patients across 20 countries, revealing intriguing trends in this research domain. Notably, observations indicated that models incorporating three to seven predictors outperformed those relying on a single predictor. Interleukins IL-6 and IL-β1 demonstrated promising potential in predicting the onset of the disease. However, a panel of cognitive tests surpassed inflammatory markers in both diagnostic accuracy and transdiagnostic ability for distinguishing SSD patients. Additionally, stress-related biomarkers exhibited a fair diagnostic potential in this comprehensive assessment.