Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany.
Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2012 Aug;262(5):393-401. doi: 10.1007/s00406-012-0290-2. Epub 2012 Jan 21.
Several studies have shown an involvement of the immune system, in particular the monocytic system, in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Beside others, the monocyte-derived cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 were found to be affected. Since cytokines are secreted by several different cell types, the cellular source is only clear if intracellular levels are measured. Thus, in order to study the monocytic system in schizophrenia, the intracellular levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 were determined. The intracellular concentration of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 in CD33 positive monocytes was evaluated in schizophrenic patients and controls with monoclonal antibodies against these cytokines. In addition, in vitro stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or poly I/C, which mimic a bacterial and viral infection, was performed before immunocytochemistry. At baseline, monocytic IL-6 levels were significantly lower in schizophrenic patients than in controls. After stimulation with LPS, compared with baseline, monocytic intracellular IL-6 production tended to increase more in schizophrenic patients. The present results provide further support for the hypothesis of an involvement of a dysfunction of the monocytic system in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and indicate that especially the pro-inflammatory immune response seems to be impaired.
多项研究表明免疫系统，特别是单核细胞系统，参与了精神分裂症的病理生理学。除其他外，发现单核细胞衍生的细胞因子 TNF-α、IL-6 和 IL-10 受到影响。由于细胞因子由多种不同的细胞类型分泌，如果测量细胞内水平，那么细胞来源才清楚。因此，为了研究精神分裂症中的单核细胞系统，测定了 TNF-α、IL-6 和 IL-10 的细胞内水平。使用针对这些细胞因子的单克隆抗体评估了 CD33 阳性单核细胞中 TNF-α、IL-6 和 IL-10 的细胞内浓度。此外，在免疫细胞化学之前，用脂多糖 (LPS) 或聚 I/C 进行体外刺激，模拟细菌和病毒感染。在基线时，精神分裂症患者的单核细胞内 IL-6 水平明显低于对照组。用 LPS 刺激后，与基线相比，精神分裂症患者的单核细胞内细胞因子 IL-6 的产生倾向于增加更多。目前的结果为单核细胞系统功能障碍参与精神分裂症病理生理学的假设提供了进一步的支持，并表明特别是促炎免疫反应似乎受到损害。
