Fig. 1. Correlations between Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Negative Symptom Subscale Score and total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

Of the metabolic markers, only (a) total cholesterol (r = 0.387, p = 0.005) and (b) LDL (r = 0.356, p = 0.009) were significantly correlated with the PANSS negative subscale score. The sample was split between those with high and low inflammation as indexed by a median split of a composite score of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). In the low inflammation subgroup (c), there was no relationship between PANSS Negative Symptom Subscale Score and cholesterol (p = 0.514) or LDL (p = 0.317), whereas in the high inflammation subgroup (d) significant correlations were found for total cholesterol (p = 0.001) and LDL (p = 0.002).