Immune system schizophrenia

Along with over-the-counter health products such as Band-Aids, Lis-terine, Motrin, Nicoderm, Pepcid AC, Rogaine, Rolaids, Sudafed, Tylenol, and Visine, the company sells prescription drugs such as Haldol for schizophrenia, Topamax for epilepsy, Remicade for a variety of immune system diseases, and Zyrtec for allergies. 

Evidence suggesting an abnormality in immune function in those subject to severe stress or suffering from depression largely relates to an abnormality in function. Such abnormalities do not appear to occur in schizophrenia. Possibly because of its well-established genetic component, many aspects of the immune system would appear to be deranged in schizophrenic patients. Thus abnormalities in the concentration of serum immunoglobulins and deficiencies in immune responsiveness have been reported to occur in such patients. 

It may be speculated that an inherited primary defect in the immune system could initiate schizophrenia by stimulating the production of antibrain antibodies or by increasing the vulnerability of the patient to a viral infection. Alternatively, a primary defect in central neurotransmitter... 

Third, advances in biochemistry are enabling researchers to tackle some of the most exciting questions in biology and medicine. How does a fertilized egg give rise to cells as different as those in muscle, brain, and liver How do the senses work What are the molecular bases for mental disorders such as Alzheimer disease and schizophrenia How does the immune system distinguish between self and nonself What are the molecular mechanisms of short-term and long-term memory The answers to such questions, which once seemed remote, have been partly uncovered and are likely to be more thoroughly revealed in the near future. 

The involvement of the immune system in schizophrenia is an even more complicated issue compared to involvement with depression. There have been suggestions for many decades that schizophrenia is associated with immune dysfunction (Vaughan etal., 1949). However, it is only recently that substantial evidence relating to this idea has begun to appear and this is even less... 

Nevertheless, despite the difficulties, there are intriguing findings that have shengthened the hypothesis that neuro-immune interactions are altered in schizophrenia patients. One argument for an association between immune function and schizophrenia is that epidemiological data show a linkage between prenatal viral infections and subsequent appearance of schizophrenia. There have also been studies that show an acute exacerbation of schizophrenia can occur in response to immune system dysfunction. These have been reviewed (Rapaport and Muller, 2001). The most extensively examined idea is that schizophrenia is associated with autoimmune diseases or that schizophrenia may, in certain instances, be associated with a lack of normal autoimmune function (Gaughran, 2002 Jones et al., 2005 Kipnis et al., 2006). 

Phospholipid abnormalities have been reported in schizophrenia, which may be due to altered immune function (du Bois et al., 2005). An intriguing concept is that in some cases schizophrenia my represent an autoimmune illness (Jones et al., 2005). Though the findings are not always consistent, dysreg-ulation of immune system activity is noted in many studies in schizophrenia (Muller et al., 2000 Gaughran, 2002 Leweke et al., 2004). 

Muller N, Riedel M, Gruber R, Ackenheil M, Schwarz MJ (2000) The immune system and schizophrenia. An integradve view. Ann N Y Acad Sci 917 456-467. 

A v ell established finding in schizophrenia is the decreased in vitro production of IL-2 and IFN-y (Wilke et al., 1996 Muller et al., 2000), reflecting a blunted production of type-1 cytokines. Decreased levels of neopterin, a product of activated monocytes/macrophages, also point to a blunted activation of the type-1 response (Spemer-Unterw eger et al., 1999). The decreased response of lymphocytes after stimulation with specific antigens reflects a reduced capacity for a type-1 immune response in schizophrenia, as well (Muller et al., 1991). Decreased levels of soluble (s)ICAM-l, as found in schizophrenia, also represent an under-activation of the type-1 immune system (Schwarz et al., 2000). Decreased levels of the soluble TNF-receptor p55— mostly decreased when TNF-a is decreased—were observed, too (Haack et al., 1999). 

The role of the HPA axis in coordinating responses to stressors, and the role of the immune system in mediating the sickness response, underscore this reciprocal relationship between the CNS and the immune system. However, the relationship is complex, and it should be clear that we are in the early stages of understanding how immune tissue can contribute to psychiatric disorders. In spite of this nascent state of knowledge, the evidence for hyper-reactivity of the HPA axis and the alterations in cytokine levels observed in both MDD and schizophrenia serve as a foundation for further research establishing a causative relationship between alterations in immune system function and these debilitating CNS disorders. 

Dopamine is present in high levels in the brain of patients with schizophrenia. Their treatment is based on blocking dopamine receptors. Chemicals regulating our emotions are rich in the amygdala and hypothalamus, but are present in great abundance outside of the brain as well, for example in the monocytes of the immune system. The latter can be thought of as circulating neurons. DNA is the chemical mastermind in all of our cells (except red blood cells). 

In CONCLUSION, it seems probable that some disturbances in immune function do occur in mental illness and are not artefacts of medication or the effects of institutionalization. The known effects of the neuroendocrine system on the immune response and the recent evidence that receptor sites for neurotransmitters and neuroendocrine factor occur on lymphocytes and macrophages, support the hypothesis that immunological abnormalities may assist in precipitating the symptoms of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. Nevertheless, the nature of specific immunological disturbances which underlie these diseases remains elusive. 

---