Circulating anti-brain autoantibodies in schizophrenia and mood disorders.

In recent years, an inflammatory autoimmune process, autoantibodies mediated, has been porposed as having a role in the development of different psychiatric disorders. The aim of this study was to assay organ-specific and non organ-specific circulating autoantibodies in schizophrenia, mood disorders and healthy controls; among organ-specific autoantibodies we focused on different fluorescence patterns of anti-brain autoantibodies against rat and monkey's sections of hippocampus, hypothalamus and cerebellum. Serum samples from 50 acutelly ill patients (30 schizophrenia and 20 mood disorders) and from 20 healthy controls were collected.

Anti-brain autoantibodies in the serum of schizophrenic patients: a case-control study.

Schizophrenia is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder with a multifactorial pathogenesis where autoimmune factors may play a significant role. The aim of this study was to verify the presence of anti-brain autoantibodies in the serum of schizophrenic patients compared to healthy controls. Autoantibodies against brain were detected by the immunofluorescence method, utilizing sections of rat hippocampus and hypothalamus and of monkey cerebellum.