Objective: To compare glucose and lipid metabolism parameters between drug-naïve first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder and healthy controls matched for age, ethnicity, and gender.
Method: Baseline evaluations of fasting glucose and lipid metabolism parameters and the oral glucose tolerance test were performed with FEP patients (n=38), having no more than 10 days of cumulative exposure to antipsychotic medication, and normal community controls (n=36). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine between group differences.
Results: FEP patients did not show a higher prevalence of the precursors to diabetes (impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance), and no significant difference in beta-cell function or lipid profile measures, compared to healthy controls. FEP patients showed a higher waist to hip ratio compared to controls.
Conclusions: FEP patients having a schizophrenia spectrum disorder do not differ from healthy controls, in their baseline measures of glucose and lipid metabolites, nor in the prevalence of diabetes or its precursors, before (or close to) the onset of antipsychotic treatment.