"Immune abnormalities in patients with psychosis have been recognized for over a century, but it has been only relatively recently that scientists have identified specific immune mechanisms that seem to directly produce symptoms of psychosis, including hallucinations and delusions.
This 'immune hypothesis' is supported by new work published by Pathmanandavel and colleagues in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry. They detected antibodies to the dopamine D2 receptor or the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor in a subgroup of children experiencing their first episode of psychosis, but no such antibodies in healthy children. Both are key neural signaling proteins that have previously been implicated in psychosis.
"The antibodies we have detected in children having a first episode of acute psychosis suggest there is a distinct subgroup for whom autoimmunity plays a role in their illness," said Dr. Fabienne Brilot, senior author on the article and Head of the Neuroimmunology Group at The Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney."
This 'immune hypothesis' is supported by new work published by Pathmanandavel and colleagues in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry. They detected antibodies to the dopamine D2 receptor or the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor in a subgroup of children experiencing their first episode of psychosis, but no such antibodies in healthy children. Both are key neural signaling proteins that have previously been implicated in psychosis.
"The antibodies we have detected in children having a first episode of acute psychosis suggest there is a distinct subgroup for whom autoimmunity plays a role in their illness," said Dr. Fabienne Brilot, senior author on the article and Head of the Neuroimmunology Group at The Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney."
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