Barry D. Schwartz

Antiretroviral antibodies : Implications for schizophrenia, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND Some retroviral antigens share structural homology within a group of related retroviruses. It is possible that antibodies directed against one virus may cross-react with antigens from a different virus in the group. METHODS Using this principle, the human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) Western blot assay was used as an available source of human retroviral antigens to screen serum samples from an archived collection to ascertain whether there was an association between serum antiretroviral antibodies and mental illnesses. RESULTS A statistically significant proportion (28/54, 52%) of patients suffering from psychiatric disorders had serum antibodies that recognized at least one antigen present on the blot, culminating in indeterminate HIV-1 tests. The majority of the reactive samples were directed against the HIV-1 group antigens p24 and p17. These findings contrast with those of nonpsychiatric patients, who had 4/16 (25%) indeterminate blots. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest exposure to retroviral antigens related to those of HIV-1 in subpopulations of schizophrenic, schizophrenic spectrum disorder, and bipolar disorder patients.

Smooth pursuit eye movement differences between familial and non-familial schizophrenia

Disrupted smooth pursuit eye tracking characterizes a greater proportion of individuals with schizophrenia than in the normal population. The finding of a similar increased incidence of eye tracking abnormality in first degree relatives of schizophrenics implicates this disorder as a potential biological marker for schizophrenia. To test the assumption that the eye tracking dysfunction of schizophrenics is genetically related, left and right smooth pursuit gain and phase shift were compared between 20 schizophrenics with a family history of schizophrenia or schizophrenia-related disorders, 18 schizophrenics without a family history, as well as for 18 normal controls. Subjects tracked pendular targets on an LED light bar moving at frequencies of 0.2 and 0.7 Hz. Horizontal eye movements were recorded using DC-electro-oculography. Results indicate that schizophrenics with a positive family history had significantly reduced right pursuit gain compared with controls, while right gain for negative family history schizophrenics did not differ from either group. Schizophrenic subjects also were administered neuropsychological tests. Linear regression by groups analyses reveal that neuropsychological measures significantly predicted right gain to slower targets (0.2 Hz) for the positive family history schizophrenics, but not for negative family history schizophrenics.