Schizophrenia Outside the Brain

Schizophrenia is a multifactorial mental disorder, characterized by positive symptoms (delusions, hallucinations), negative symptoms (anhedonia, social withdraw), and cognitive symptoms (impairment of memory, learning, and executive functions). Despite the classic symptoms being related to the central nervous system, schizophrenia has been described by recent studies as a systemic disease, affecting other organs, tissues, and systems out of the brain. In this chapter, we summarize the main tissues and systems found affected in schizophrenic patients, both before and after antipsychotic administration. We offer an overview of the recent findings in the field about musculoskeletal system, metabolism, and immune system dysfunctions found in patients as well in models in vitro. We also discuss some of the side effects of certain antipsychotics often related to increased risk of comorbidities in patients with schizophrenia during the treatment.