One in 10 patients with mental disorders have immune dysfunction, according to the results ofa study published in the medical journal The Lancet Psychiatry. 3% of patients with psychosis had anti-NMDAR antibodies indicative of an immune disease, encephalitis, a fatal inflammation of the brain.
Could this discovery make it possible to set up new therapeutic protocols to treat psychological disorders? Yes, according to the authors of the study, because the antibodies identified in the blood of certain patients suffering from psychosis prove to be linked to a very specific disease, encephalitis with anti-NMDA receptor antibodies, a pathology which can be treated.
Towards better detection of psychotic episodes?
Psychotic disorders linked to the presence of antibodies
Researchers from the University of Oxford, King’s College London and the University of Cambridge in the UK performed a blood test on 228 patients, aged 14 to 35, diagnosed with a first episode of psychosis and 105 control volunteers without mental health problems.
The results of their analysis identified that 20 of the 228 (i.e. 9%) patients affected by psychosis displayed 1 or more anti-receptor antibodies against 4 (4%) of the 105 controls,
7 patients (or 3%) with psychosis had anti-NMDA receptor antibodies, linked to antibody-mediated encephalitis. A link that was not found in the control group.
Patients with psychosis had similar symptoms, with or without anti-brain cell receptor antibodies.
Soon a psychotic risk calculator?
The hope of a new treatment against psychoses
This discovery offers new hope in terms of treatment possibilities for people with psychoses. Indeed, the rapid identification and elimination of the same antibodies associated with encephalitis leads to a dramatic improvement, and often leads to the cure of the disease. Professor Belinda Lennox and her team have successfully treated a number of patients with psychosis, who have displayed these antibodies, using this pioneering form of immunotherapy.
“The next important step in this study is to determine whether removing antibodies will treat psychosis in the same established way that is currently used for encephalitis. To do this, the research team is starting a randomized controlled trial of immune treatment in people with psychosis and antibodies, starting in 2017,” says Professor Belinda Lennox.
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