Sera from healthy people and from patients with schizophrenia were heated at 560 for 30 min and then kept at 4'. These sera were then tested for cytotoxicity and by the indirect immunofluorescerice method with thymocytes, bone-marrow cells, and lymph-node cells of adult C3H mice. The cytotoxicity index for mouse thymocytes of sera from 60 healthy donors ranged from 0.00 to 0.4, with an average of 0.08. That of sera from 35 patients with schizophrenia ranged from 0.29 to 0.91, with an average of 0.71. The cytotoxicity index for mouse bone-marrow cells of sera from healthy donors ranged from 0.03 to 0.23, whereas that of sera from patients with schizophrenia ranged from 0.00 to 0.14. Sera of patients at dilutions of 1: 8-1:32 displayed immunofluorescence of almost 100% of thymocytes and 58-78% of lymphocytes, whereas sera of healthy donors displayed none. We thus conclude that the sera of patients with schizophrenia contain antibodies against thymic antigens localized on thymocytes and thymus-derived lymphocytes.
Six WHO Collaborating Centre took part in the study of the antithymic activity of blood sera of patients suffering from schizophrenia. Blood serum specimens from 118 schizophrenic patients and 62 mentally healthy donors were investigated. Statistically significant differences between schizophrenic patients and the controls were found (p < 0.05). It is probable that as with other biological phenomena described in schizophrenia, antithymic activity is one of the biological factors, in combination with other factors, predisposing towards the development of the schizophrenic process.
Psychopathologica1and immunological investigation of 95 patients sufferingfrom acute episodesof schizophrenia was carriedout. For the pwposes of ~le horrogcneitythe initial course ot treatment includedhaloperido! andamitriptylin in meantherapeuticdoses. 1bc result of the clinico-inununological investigation of intensive psychophll1Tnlcotherapy process showedceruin changesin the immunological indices whichmay be consideredan illustration of the influenceof the inwnunc processeson differenttypesof therapy reBCIions. The dynamic changesollhe immunological indices correlated with the rapid and effectivereductionof psychopathological disorders in intensive therapy. In cases or protractedepisodesthe immunological indices altered to a lesserdegree in comparison with the initialparameters. These indicesmay be considered predictors of therapyefficiency.
Objective: There are many well established screening instruments for the detection of depression in community-based samples. This study focuses on the ability of such instruments to detect subthreshold symptoms of depression and anxiety in the elderly general population. Methods: The diagnoses of subthreshold depressive disorders, subthreshold generalized anxiety disorder, and subthreshold panic disorder were made according to the criteria proposed by Angst. Additionally, we included subthreshold agoraphobia, subthreshold social phobia, and subthreshold specific phobia to the category of subthreshold anxiety disorders. The study was carried out on 287 subjects out of the general population aged 60-99 years. All subjects completed the short version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). The perfomance of the questionnaires was assessed by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. Results: Both the GHQ-12 and the CES-D discriminated between the presence and the absence of subthreshold disorders, however their performance was poor. Items describing somatic/vegetative complaints showed the highest discriminating ability. Conclusions: Subthreshold disorders in elderly subjects can be identified by using well-established screening instruments, however modifications ofthese instruments should be undertaken to improve sensitivity and specificity. We suggest the inclusion of more items describing somatic complaints to reach better performance.
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