SEARCH FOR VIRAL NUCLEIC-ACID SEQUENCES IN BRAIN-TISSUES OF PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA USING NESTED POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

Background: We used polymerase chain reaction to search for nucleic ac id sequences of several viruses in DNA and RNA extracted from brain ti ssues of schizophrenic and control subjects. Methods: We extracted DNA and RNA templates from frozen brain specimens of 31 patients with sch izophrenia and 23 nonschizophrenic control patients with other disease s. The extracts were subjected to polymerase chain reaction with oligo nucleotide primers for 12 different viruses (cytomegalovirus, Epstein- Barr virus, herpes simplex virus type 1, human herpesvirus type 6, var icella-tester virus, measles virus, mumps virus, rubella virus, the pi cornavirus group, influenza A virus, human T-cell lymphotropic virus t ype I, and St Louis encephalitis virus), several of which have been su spected of involvement in schizophrenia. Nested primers were used to i ncrease the sensitivity of the method. Results: No amplified nucleic a cid sequences encoded by the selected viral genomes were detected in e xtracts of any brain specimens from either schizophrenic or control pa tients. Conclusions: These data agree with previous studies that faile d to find sequences of a number of viruses in the cerebrospinal fluid or selected areas of the brains of schizophrenic patients. Additional efforts should be undertaken to identify other known and unknown patho gens in schizophrenia, sampling more areas of the brain from subjects with a variety of clinical types of schizophrenia.