Schizophrenia as an Immunologic Disorder

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Abstract
PUBLICATIONS from the Tulane laboratories have previously described a unique protein fraction isolated from the serum of schizophrenic patients, which we called taraxein.1-3When introduced intravenously into Macaca rhesus monkeys, this fraction caused electroencephalographic abnormalities in focal subcortical regions of the brain that resembled those of psychotic schizophrenic patients. Intravenous use of the fraction in human volunteer-subjects induced symptoms of the psychotic schizophrenic state. Research in other laboratories directed toward isolation and characterization of serum protein fractions of schizophrenic patients has stimulated speculation about the mode of action of taraxein in relation to schizophrenia.4-10 The possibility of an immunologic mechanism in various disorders of the central nervous system has been investigated. Indirect effects of cancer on the nervous system,11mechanisms of induction of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis,12immunologic mechanisms of certain types of neuromyelitis, and immunologic phenomena in myasthenia gravis

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