REFUTATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS LINKING ANTI ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR ANTIBODIES AND TARDIVE DYSKINESIAS

Several cases of non-myasthenic sera containing anti-acetylcholine rec eptor antibodies (AChR-Ab) have been reported in patients treated with neuroleptic drugs and affected by tardive dyskinesia (TD) suggesting the possibility that the immune system was involved in this condition. We assayed sera for ACh-Ab in sera from 10 schizophrenics with TD (av erage age +/- SD : 39.7 +/- 13.3 years) and 10 schizophrenics without TD as controls (51.0 +/- 14.6 years), Abnormal AChR-Ab titers were nev er detected in patients with TD; one 48 years old patient in the contr ol groupe had a threshold AChR-Ab levels (0.80 nM), It seems then that the link between AChR-Ab and TD is not substantiated by our study.