Dr. Robert Yolken, professor of neurovirology at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore (USA) has just discovered a link between schizophrenia and the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), an extremely common virus responsible, among other things, for mononucleosis.
To establish this link, Dr. Yolken’s team compared the antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus from 432 patients. suffering from schizophreniaand 311 others with no history of psychiatric disorder. The researchers thus realized that schizophrenics had a level of antibodies 1.7 to 2.3 times higher. “This indicates that the prevention and treatment of Epstein-Barr virus could represent an approach for the prevention and treatment of serious psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia” emphasizes the doctor in science alert.
Schizophrenia alters the immune system
Researchers have not yet discovered the reasons for this immune response to the virus. They think thehas schizophrenia could alter the immune system, making patients more vulnerable to the EBV virus. Or that, conversely, infection with the EBV virus could increase the risk of schizophrenia.
The antibody study has been replicated with other viruses of the herpes familybut no link could be set.
This study was published in the Schizophrenia newsletter.
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