Goldsmith DR, et al. - In patients with chronic schizophrenia, increased inflammatory markers have been found, and have been associated with negative symptoms. Researchers here measured inflammatory markers in patients with and without deficit schizophrenia and identified an association of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin-6 with the deficit syndrome. In these patients, TNF-α also predicted blunted affect, alogia, and total negative symptoms. Findings thereby suggested an increased inflammation in association with deficit schizophrenia subtype and that the immunotherapies could be a novel target for negative symptoms.