The continued search for evidence of retroviral infection in schizophrenic patients.
Retroviral infection has been proposed as an etiologic factor in schizophrenia. In an effort to unmask a latent retrovirus, short term cultures of peripheral lymphocytes from 15 schizophrenic subjects and nine normal controls were exposed to ionizing radiation and co-cultured with indicator cells. Reverse transcriptase activity, a marker of retroviral infection, could not be detected in any of the cultures. Our findings are further evidence against a role for retroviral infection in the etiology of schizophrenia.
Coggiano
M A
MA
Neuropsychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Washington, DC 20032.
Alexander
R C
RC
Kirch
D G
DG
Wyatt
R J
RJ
Kulaga
H
H
D000328:Adult; D002460:Cell Line; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000382:microbiology*; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012192:Retroviridae Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000382:microbiology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology