ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1698455
Uric acid and HDL-C-derived Inflammatory Ratios as Biomarkers in Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder: A Retrospective Study
Provisionally accepted
- Kunming Medical University Affiliated Mental Health Center, Kunming, China
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Background: Ratios derived from uric acid (UA) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) represent novel composite indicators integrating metabolic and inflammatory information. These ratios include the uric acid-to-lymphocyte ratio (ULR), uric acid-to-HDL-C ratio (UHR), uric acid-to-creatinine ratio (UCR), uric acid-to-albumin ratio (UAR), neutrophil-to-HDL-C ratio (NHR), lymphocyte-to-HDL-C ratio (LHR), monocyte-to-HDL-C ratio (MHR), and platelet-to-HDL-C ratio (PHR). This retrospective study aimed to evaluate and compare the predictive ability of these indicators in distinguishing patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) or major depressive disorder (MDD) from healthy controls (HCs) to identify potential biomarkers. Materials and Methods: Blood parameter data were collected from 442 patients with SCZ, 326 with MDD, and 222 healthy controls. A retrospective analysis was conducted to examine intergroup differences in the UA- and HDL-C-derived ratios. The predictive efficacy of these parameters was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Significant intergroup differences in biomarker levels were observed. The UHR, UAR, NHR, and MHR were identified as predictive factors for distinguishing the SCZ group from the HC group, while the UAR and MHR distinguished the MDD group from the HC group. A composite model of the UHR, UAR, NHR, and MHR in the SCZ group yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.877 (p < 0.001). Similarly, a composite model of the UAR, UCR, UHR, and MHR in the MDD group produced an AUC of 0.818 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study indicated that the ratio derived from UA and HDL-C more comprehensively reflects the inflammatory and metabolic status, and its expression differences can significantly distinguish SCZ and MDD.
Keywords: Schizophrenia, Major Depressive Disorder, Inflammatory biomarkers, Oxidative Stress, Uric Acid, High-density lipoprotein cholesterol
Received: 03 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Qiu, Zhang, Huai, Huang, Li, Lei, Jiang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shaochuan Zhang, zhangzsc@qq.com
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