Red Blood Cells Parameters in Patients with Acute Schizophrenia, Unipolar Depression and Bipolar Disorder.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: There are no studies comparing red blood cell parameters between patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and unipolar depression. The aim of this study was to compare differences in erythrocyte parameters (red blood cell count (RBC), hematocrit (HCT), hemoglobin (HGB), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and red blood cell distribution width (RDW)) in patients with schizophrenia (SHZ), unipolar depression (UD) and bipolar disorder (BIP) bipolar depression (BD) and mania (BM). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional, naturalistic study of 2381 patients (SHZ n=1244; UD n=794; BIP n=343, BD n=259, BM n=84). RESULTS: There was significant difference for all red cell parameters between study groups (p<0.001). Age and sex may affect various erythrocyte parameters. CONCLUSION: There are differences in erythrocyte parameters between schizophrenia, unipolar depression and bipolar disorder. Compared with schizophrenia, significantly higher percentage of patients with affective disorders has anemia or abnormal erythrocyte parameters. Positive correlations between age and MCV and RDW and negative correlation between other parameters and age were found in all study groups.