In a first approach to measure the activity of the interferon system in schizophrenic patients, leucocyte cultures of schizophrenic patients and normal control individuals were set up using a whole blood assay. In this system both lymphoproliferation and the induction of interferon was tested. The lymphoproliferation (LP) test was performed with one bacterial recall antigen (PPD) and four different mitogens (phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A), pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and a novel mitogen derived from mycoplasma arthritidis - MAS). For induction of interferon two inducers of interferon alpha (Corynebacterium parvum and Newcastle disease virus (NDV] and two inducers of interferon gamma (PHA and Con A) were tested. Leucocytes of the patients responded to C. parvum, NDV and Con A with significantly lower titers of interferon, whereas the responses to PHA were lower than those of normals, but this difference was not significant. Regarding the LP test, significantly lower responses of the patients were obtained with PHA and Con A, whereas there were no significant differences when the responses to MAS, PWM or PPD were compared. Although our data cannot rule out a role of the medications in the defects observed, they may be indicative of a defect in the interferon system of schizophrenic patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.