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Serum Immunoglobulin Concentrations in Patients Admitted to an Acute Psychiatric In-patient Service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Lynn E. DeLisi*
Affiliation:
Section of Psychogenetics, 9000 Rockville Pike, Building 10, Room 3N220, Bethesda, MD 20205, USA
Catherine King
Affiliation:
Section of Clinical Brain Imaging, Laboratory of Psychology and Psychopathology, The National Institute of Mental Health
Steven Targum
Affiliation:
The Psychiatric Institute, Sarasota Palms Hospital, Sarasota, Florida, USA
*
Correspondence

Summary

Serum immunoglobulins were quantified in 85 consecutively admitted patients from an acute-care psychiatric in-patient unit. The patients were diagnosed as: major depressive disorder, 53; chronic schizophrenia, 12; schizophreniform psychosis, 4; substance abuse disorder, 12; and miscellaneous other diagnoses, 4. A small sub-group of these patients, which included six with major depression, one with chronic schizophrenia, and one with a personality disorder, were found to have low IgM concentrations. Immunoglobulin levels were not associated with use of medication or length of illness prior to this hospital admission. This study provides further evidence for suppression of humoral immunity in some psychiatric patients (approximately 10%).

Type
Brief Reports
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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