Psychiatric patients treated with psychotropic drugs are susceptible to metabolic alterations, prone to develop cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and metabolic syndrome and present reduced life expectancy, generally due to the comorbid conditions. Oxidative stress and inflammation, along with various other factors, are present in the evolution and progression of psychiatric conditions, as well as CVDs. Retinoids and paraoxonase 1 (PON1) are involved in the regulation of oxidative stress, inflammation, and body metabolism and have been shown to be altered in psychiatric diseases. This study aimed to determine concentrations of retinoids retinol (RO) and retinyl palmitate (RePa) and PON1 status (PON1 activities and Q192R inferred genotype) in the serum of 73 psychiatric patients with a severe mental disorder and to assess whether the psychotropic treatment had an impact on RO serum concentrations and PON1 status. RO and RePa were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC-UV). PON1 lactonase, CMPAse, arylesterase, and saline arylesterase activities were determined spectrophotometrically, using non-organophosphate substrates dihydrocoumarin (DHC), 4-(chloromethyl)phenyl acetate (CMPA) and phenyl acetate (PA) in low and high salt conditions, respectively. PON1 Q192R genotype was inferred from a graph presenting CMPAse versus saline arylesterase activities. The measured RO concentrations were within the range of previously published studies in psychiatric patients. RePa levels did not suggest vitamin A toxicity or postprandial increase. Measured lactonase, CMPAse, arylesterase, and saline arylesterase activities were comparable to the existing studies in psychiatric patients. Functional genotype QQ was deduced in 32, QR in 32, and RR in 9 individuals, with allelic frequencies of 0.66 for Q and 0.34 for R allozyme and hence, correspond to those of Caucasian populations. Preliminary findings suggest that psychotropic drugs could affect serum RO concentrations and PON1 status. However, a further in-depth research is warranted. This study was a part of a broader on-going research project. Thus, the determined retinoid concentrations and PON1 status will be the subject of further research.
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