Detection of anti-cerebral autoantibodies in schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.

Autoantibodies to cerebrum were investigated in the sera from schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and healthy subjects by indirect immunofluorescence method. Four patterns of staining were observed: type A (neuronal cell), type B (blood vessel), type C (nucleus) and type D (glia and miscellaneous cell). Among rat, guinea pig and rabbit cerebrum, rabbit cerebrum proved best (low non-specific binding and high sensitivity) for the detection of circulating autoantibodies to cerebrum. With schizophrenia, 13 out of 46 cases (28.3%) were positive for autoantibodies to neuronal cells and 6/13 of those were not absorbed by liver acetone powder. With Alzheimer's disease, 25/63 (39.7%) were positive for autoantibodies to neuronal cells and 6/25 were not absorbed by liver acetone powder.