Increased prevalence of Chlamydophila DNA in post-mortem brain frontal cortex from patients with schizophrenia.

Abstract

Infection can initiate symptoms of mental illness. It has been shown previously that Chlamydophila DNA is present six times more often in the blood of patients with schizophrenia than in the blood of control individuals. Monocytes, the main targets of Chlamydiaceae infection, are microglia precursors. We identified Chlamydiaceae infection using blinded brain DNA samples derived from the frontal cortex. Using PCR and sequence analysis, we found Chlamydophila DNA to be four times greater in patients with schizophrenia than in controls (schizophrenia: N=34, microbial DNA frequency 23.5%; controls: N=35, microbial DNA frequency 5.7%; P=0.045, OR=5.08). Persistent Chlamydophila-infected microglia or neuronal cells may impair neuronal circuits and thus be a mechanism for causing psychiatric illness in these patients.

• Authors: Barbara Fellerhoff, Rudolf Wank
• Journal: Schizophrenia research (Schizophr Res) Vol. 129 Issue 2-3 Pg. 191-5 (Jul 2011) ISSN: 1573-2509 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 21546214 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• DNA

Topics

• Adult
• Bipolar Disorder (epidemiology, pathology)
• Chlamydophila (genetics, pathogenicity)
• Chlamydophila Infections (complications, epidemiology, genetics)
• DNA (genetics)
• Female
• Frontal Lobe (pathology)
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Postmortem Changes
• Prevalence
• Schizophrenia (epidemiology, etiology, pathology)
• White People
• Young Adult