A group at Tokyo Medical & Dental University announced in an experiment using mice that one of the causes of developing schizophrenia may be related to its own antibody.
The results of this research were presented by a group such as Assistant Professor Yuki Shiotsune of Tokyo Medical & Dental University.
Schizophrenia is a disease that causes symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, and is said to occur in about 1 in 100 people.
In the group, when blood and other substances were examined in detail in more than 220 patients with schizophrenia, an antibody against a protein called "NCAM1" at the synapse of nerve cells in the brain was found in about 5% of the patients. We found that it may be interfering with the transmission of information in the brain.
Furthermore, it was confirmed that administration of this antibody to mice causes symptoms such as schizophrenia, such as a decrease in brain synapses and a hypersensitive reaction to loud sounds.
According to the group, various mechanisms may be involved in the development of schizophrenia, but in some patients this antibody may be one of the causes.
Assistant Professor Shiwaku said, "The possibility of developing schizophrenia with antibodies has not been known so far, and we hope that it will lead to the elucidation of the pathophysiology and the creation of new treatment strategies in the future."