Autoantibodies against brain septal region antigens specific to unmedicated schizophrenia?

Health et al. (1989) reported that serum from 96% of unmedicated schizophrenic patients contained IgG autoantibodies specific for the septal region of rhesus monkey brain, compared with 0% of nonschizophrenic control subjects and 6% of schizophrenic patients who were on neuroleptic medication. Using the same technique of crossed immunoelectrophoresis, we have tried to replicate this finding. In contrast to the original report, we observed "positive" precipitin arcs with IgG concentrates from all 14 serum samples tested. The failure of immunoelectrophoretic methods to provide convincing evidence of pathogenic autoantibodies in schizophrenia in no way detracts from the hypothesis that autoimmune processes are involved in some forms of schizophrenia. Such methods have not proved useful in established autoimmune diseases such as Graves' disease and myasthenia gravis in which the pathogenic autoantibodies against cell-surface receptors can only be detected by assays which measure functional interactions with such receptors.