Objective: Clozapine increases the levels of cytokines and soluble cytokine receptors. The authors investigated whether haloperidol has similar effects.
Method: Rectal temperature, white blood cell counts, and plasma levels of cytokines and soluble cytokine receptors were assessed before and during 6 weeks of haloperidol treatment in 10 psychiatric patients.
Results: Haloperidol at mean doses of 7.0 mg/day (SD = 3.4), 6.9 mg/day (SD = 3.4), and 5.0 mg/day (SD = 3.1) at the end of the 1st, 2nd, and 6th weeks of treatment, respectively, did not affect rectal temperature, white blood cell counts, or plasma level of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), soluble TNF receptor p55 or p75, or soluble interleukin-2 receptor.
Conclusions: Haloperidol is unlikely to confound the results of studies investigating disease-related alterations in the levels of a broad range of cytokines and soluble cytokine receptors in schizophrenia.