AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ANTI-HIPPOCAMPAL ANTIBODY CONCENTRATION AND LYMPHOCYTE-PRODUCTION OF IL-2 IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Serum concentrations of anti-hippocampal antibodies and in vitro produ ction of the lymphokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) in response to phytohaema gglutinin (PHA) stimulation were determined using an enzyme immunoassa y in 49 schizophrenic patients and 41 healthy controls. Decrease in IL -2 production, a finding frequently associated with many autoimmune di seases, was associated with an elevation in anti-hippocampal antibody optical density (AHA-OD) in schizophrenic patients. Although some cont rol subjects had elevated antibody levels, this elevation was not asso ciated with decreased IL-2 production. Low IL-2 production is well kno wn to be a state marker associated with active autoimmune disease. We suggest that production of hippocampal antibody is a trait marker of v ulnerability to autoimmune diseases. Thus, our finding of low IL-2 pro duction in patients with high concentrations of hippocampal antibody i s compatible with the possibility that such patients have an ongoing a utoimmune process.