Frequencies of immunological aberrations in acute schizophrenia

Immunological examinations in schizophrenic patients have shown that there are many alterations in both arms of the immune system, i. e. cellular and humoral activities. The results are quite heterogeneous, as not even all sc hizophrenics show these pathological changes. Immunological findings are as sumed to be etiopathogenetically related to the disease process or to be an epiphenomenon. The present study supposes that immunological alterations a s they can be found during the course of schizophrenia may be an indicator for somatic vulnerability or an epiphenomenon. 60 male inpatients, fulfilli ng DSM-IV criteria of schizophrenia where examined during their acute phase s of psychosis and during their phases of clinical improvement, by means of a serological profile including cellular and humoral parameters; The contr ol group consisted of 42 healthy male volunteers. It was the aim of this st udy to find out if there were (a) overall differences in the immune profile s between patients and control group and (b) differences between different categories of schizophrenic disorder. During the acute phase nearly half of the schizophrenic patients showed pathologic immunological parameters, whe reas none of the controls did. During the phase of clinical improvement the number of patients with normal immunological findings predominated. Furthe rmore there was a difference between the Paranoid and the Disorganized Subt ype, the latter showing more immunological abnormalities. The results of th is study give further support to the hypothesis that immunological aberrati ons should not be seen as closely etiopathogenetically related to schizophr enic disorders, but rather as an epiphenomenon (e. g. as a stress marker) a nd/or as indicators for somatic vulnerability.