title: Reverse transcriptase activity in 5-azacytidine-treated lymphocyte cultures of patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: We investigated the involvement of human lymphotropic retroviruses in the etiology of schizophrenia. Short-term cultures of peripheral lymphocytes of 11 chronic schizophrenic patients and six controls were established and treated with 2.5 and 5 microM 5-azacytidine. No reverse transcriptase activity could be detected in any of the 5-azacytidine-treated cultures indicating that 5-azacytidine did not activate a putative retrovirus in lymphocytes of patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, our findings do not support a role of lymphotropic retroviruses as an etiology in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychiatry Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIMH, Washington DC.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Feenstra
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kirch
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Coggiano
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wyatt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001374:Azacitidine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D001374:Azacitidine