M. Kokai et al., ELEVATED LE(Y) ANTIGEN EXPRESSION ON T-LYMPHOCYTES IN SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS, European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 243(2), 1993, pp. 82-86
Le(y) is a carbohydrate determinant of membrane glycoconjugates and is
expressed in some tumor and embryonic cells. On T lymphocytes, it is
known that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected human lymphocyt
e T-cell lines express elevated Le(y) antigen and AIDS patients show t
he highest Le(y) expression in T lymphocytes at lower CD4/CD8 ratio. L
ater, a comparative elevation of Le(y) expression on T-cell subsets ha
s been noticed to be mainly present in patients with viral diseases, s
uch as acute and chronic hepatitits, implying an association of the hi
ghest Le(y) expression with viral infection. We found that Le(y) antig
en was most expressed in both CD4+ and CD8+ subsets of peripheral T ly
mphocytes in hospitalized schizophrenic patients. On the other hand, a
typical lymphocytes with stimulated morphology are known to appear in
the blood circulation of schizophrenic patients. Similar atypical lymp
hocytes have also been described in viral and autoimmune diseases. Two
possibilities have been discussed: viral association in the pathology
in some schizophrenic patients; and immunological abnormalities inclu
ding environmental effects under hospitalization on immune status, sin
ce normal controls (staff in psychiatric hospitals) showed higher Le(y
) expression than normal controls under non-psychiatric circumstances.