Search for cytomegalovirus in the postmortem brains of schizophrenic patients using the polymerase chain reaction.
Cytomegalovirus infection has a number of features that suggest a possible association between congenital infection and schizophrenia. Previous studies have investigated anticytomegalovirus antibody titers or attempted directly to identify viral antigens in body fluids or brain tissue from schizophrenic subjects but have been limited by the sensitivity of the available methods. The highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction, a newly developed technique for gene amplification, was used to search for cytomegalovirus in the DNA extracted from postmortem temporal cortex samples of eight schizophrenic subjects, eight nonschizophrenic suicide victims, and eight normal controls. Cytomegalovirus-specific DNA amplification was not detected in any of the samples. The implications of this finding for the viral hypothesis of schizophrenia are discussed.
Alexander
R C
RC
Neuropsychiatry, Branche, National Institute of Mental Health Neuroscience Center, St Elizabeths, Washington, DC.
Spector
S A
SA
Casanova
M
M
Kleinman
J
J
Wyatt
R J
RJ
Kirch
D G
DG
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D015342:DNA Probes; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000382:microbiology*; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000382:microbiology
D015342:DNA Probes; D004279:DNA, Viral