[Changes in the level of autoantibodies to the nerve growth factor in the blood serum of schizophrenia patients].

A study was made of 54 patients with different forms of schizophrenia: paranoid (8), shift-like (30), slow-progredient (16). According to ICD-10 the rubrics were: F20.00 and F20.01; F20.22 and F20.02; F21 respectively. Elevation of the level of autoantibodies (aAB) to nerve growth factor (NGF) 1,5-fold was registered in blood serum of schizophrenic patients by means of enzyme immunoassay as compared with 70 healthy controls. The dependence of aAB level upon the stage of the disease development was found: in the active phase there was a significant increase of aAB level as compared with the patients in remission (1.38 +/- 0.26 and 0.92 +/- 0.25 units of optical density, respectively). There were no differences in respect of different forms of disease. The authors suggest to use aAB level as the index of the disease activity.