[Role of schizophrenic patients' serum in the altered osmotic resistance of their lymphocytes].

The resistance of peripheral blood lymphocytes was estimated in normal subjects and schizophrenic patients with reference to hypoosmotic effects. It was shown that in normal subjects about 20% of the lymphocytes were slightly resistant. In 60% of the schizophrenic patients the fraction of the slightly resistant lymphocytes was found to be sharply lowered. The content of those cells in the blood of patients with different forms of the disease course was different: patients with the periodic form showed the minimal, and patients with continuously progressing form the maximal deviation from normal. Patients with the schubweise form occupied an intermediate place. Incubation of the lymphocytes of the healthy donors in the serum of schizophrenic patients led to selective destruction of the donor' slightly resistant cells. A statistically significant correlation between the destructive capacity of the patients' serum and the lowering of the content of the slightly resistant lymphocytes in those patients was observed.