Ali Reza Shafiee-Kandjani
1 
, Ali Bazzaz Haghighat Talab
2, Sara Farhang
1, Dariush Shanehbandi
3, Milad Asadi
3, Ailar Nakhlband
3* 1 Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
2 Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
3 Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
4 Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating psychiatric disease characterized by various causes and symptoms. The tau protein is recognized as a biomarker that plays a crucial role in neurocognitive and neurodegenerative diseases. Given the presence of cognitive symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia, the objective of this study was to measure to evaluate the diagnostic potential of measuring serum levels of total tau and phosphorylated tau in patients with schizophrenia.
Methods: A total of 40 patients with schizophrenia who met the inclusion criteria were selected, along with 40 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. Written consent was obtained from all participants, and blood samples were collected to measure the serum levels of total tau protein and phosphorylated tau. The obtained data were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods with SPSS 23 software.
Results: There was no statistically significant disparity detected in the serum concentrations of total and phosphorylated tau protein when comparing individuals with schizophrenia to those without the disorder.
Conclusion: Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that total tau protein and phosphorylated tau cannot be considered as diagnostic biomarkers for schizophrenia. Furthermore, the findings of this study do not support the presence of neuroanalysis in schizophrenia.