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Tokyo, May 31: Autoantibodies, or immune system-produced proteins that may function against one s own body, have been linked to reports of schizophrenia. A minority of schizophrenia patients had autoantibodies that targeted neurexin 1, a synaptic adhesion protein, according to a study published last month in Brain Behaviour and Immunity. The autoantibodies led to numerous schizophrenia-related alterations when administered to animals.
Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have identified autoantibodies that act against neurexin 1α, an important protein for the formation of synapses, which allow brain cells to communicate, in a subset of patients with schizophrenia. These autoantibodies also caused schizophrenia-related changes in mice. Given that the symptoms of many patients with schizophrenia do not respond well to current treatments, the identification of new possible treatment targets such as autoantibodies is very important.
Links have been reported between schizophrenia and proteins produced by the immune system that can act against one's own body, known as autoantibodies.