The ultrastructure of lymphocytes in schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE
Replicated abnormalities in schizophrenia include decreased cellular immunity. The aim of the study was to verify whether there are some abnormalities in the ultrastructure of lymphocytes in drug-free schizophrenic patients.


METHODS
Fifty-nine in-patients with paranoid schizophrenia (DSM-IV 295.30) and 31 normal controls were used. Psychosis severity was assessed by the PANSS psychotic cluster. Electron microscopy and morphometric methods were applied to estimate the frequency and ultrastructural parameters of small, large, large activated lymphocytes (LAL) (containing 10 and more mitochondria) and of atypical lymphocytes (lymphoblasts, LB).


RESULTS
The frequency of small lymphocytes in schizophrenic patients was lower and that of large lymphocytes, LAL and LB was higher than in controls (all p= < 0.01). The volume density (Vv) of mitochondria in LAL in individuals with schizophrenia was lower than in controls (p<0.05), correlated negatively with the frequency of LB, Vv and number of lysosomes in LB (all p<0.01) and with the psychosis severity (p<0.05). In schizophrenic patients a trend towards positive correlations between the frequency of LB and psychosis severity were found (p<0.07).


CONCLUSIONS
The data suggest that the excess of LB in schizophrenic patients is associated with the dysfunction of energy metabolism in LAL, and these abnormalities are related to schizophrenia.
Uranova
Natalya
N
Laboratory of Clinical Neuropathology, Mental Health Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia. uranovan@mail.ru
Bonartsev
Pavel
P
Brusov
Oleg
O
Morozova
Margarita
M
Rachmanova
Valentina
V
Orlovskaya
Diana
D
D000328:Adult; D048429:Cell Size; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012016:Reference Values; D012563:Schizophrenia, Paranoid / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D013223:Statistics as Topic