AUTOIMMUNE PHENOMENA & PSYCHOTIC RELAPSE--SCHIZOPHRENIA

这是一项研究自身免疫过程 针对脑组织抗原的免疫反应可能与 精神分裂症患者的精神症状的产生。 测试这个的计划 假设的特点是两种方法：1）横断面研究 急性精神分裂症患者多种免疫指标的变化 患者，患有系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）的精神病患者 与之前未服药的精神分裂症患者相比， 精神分裂症，非精神病性SLE患者，脑损伤非精神病性 患者和正常对照。 调查的这一部分将显示， 在精神病症状和一个 自身免疫性抗脑反应 2)一个纵向跟踪的 精神分裂症患者将进行频繁的重复 免疫学参数和精神病水平的测量 医学。 调查的这一部分将揭示 自身免疫现象和精神病症状水平的协变， 自身免疫现象先于临床表现的相应变化出现， 状态 这项研究的设计来自于目前的模型， 已知自身免疫性疾病如SLE、胰岛素 依赖性糖尿病和自身免疫性甲状腺功能亢进症。 本研究承诺以明确的方式回答飞行员提出的问题 主要研究者和其他研究收集的数据 在过去的30年里，已经证明了免疫系统与 功能障碍和精神分裂症。 揭示一种自身免疫性发病机制， 即使是精神分裂症患者的一个亚群也会导致对病因学的进一步研究 也为一些新的治疗方法打开了大门 基于修改免疫反应的方法。

This is a proposal to investigate the hypothesis that an autoimmune process directed against brain tissue antigens might be causally related to the production of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenics. The plan to test this hypothesis is characterized by two approaches: 1) a cross-sectional study of multiple immunologic parameters in acutely psychotic schizophrenic patients, psychotic patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) contrasted with schizophrenics in remission, previously unmedicated schizophrenics, nonpsychotic SLE patients, brain damaged non-psychotic patients and normal controls. This part of the investigation will show if there is a specific association between psychotic symptoms and an autoimmune anti-brain response. 2) A longitudinal follow up of the schizophrenic patients will then be carried out with frequent repeated measurements of immunologic parameters and of the level of psychotic symptomatology. This part of the investigation will reveal if the autoimmune phenomena and the level of psychotic symptoms covary and whether the autoimmune phenomena emerge before corresponding changes in clinical state. The design of the study has been derived from current models of immunopathophysiology in known autoimmune disorders such as SLE, Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus and autoimmune hyperthyroidism. This study promises to answer in a definitive way questions raised by pilot data gathered by the Principal Investigator and by other studies over the last 30 years which have demonstrated an association between immune dysfunction and schizophrenia. Uncovering an autoimmune pathogenesis in even a subgroup of schizophrenics would lead to further studies of etiology in schizophrenia and also open the door to a number of novel treatment approaches based on modifying the immune response.