Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1987 Mar;50(3):247–251. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.50.3.247

Search for viral nucleic acid sequences in the post mortem brains of patients with schizophrenia and individuals who have committed suicide.

G I Carter, G R Taylor, T J Crow
PMCID: PMC1031786  PMID: 3031219

Abstract

Molecular hybridisation has been used to screen several areas of post mortem brain from 20 patients with schizophrenia, 23 individuals who were suspected of having committed suicide and 21 control cases, for viral nucleic acids. Cloned probes were able to detect picogram levels of viral DNA and to quantify herpes simplex type 1 DNA from encephalitic brain, but no sequences hybridising to cytomegalovirus, varicella zoster virus, herpes simplex type I or JC or BK papovaviruses were detected in any of the experimental samples. These findings are discussed with reference to the viral hypothesis of the aetiology of psychiatric disease.

Full text

PDF
247

Images in this article

248Image
on p.248

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Albrecht P., Torrey E. F., Boone E., Hicks J. T., Daniel N. Raised cytomegalovirus-antibody level in cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenic patients. Lancet. 1980 Oct 11;2(8198):769–772. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(80)90386-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arthur R. R., Beckmann A. M., Li C. C., Saral R., Shah K. V. Direct detection of the human papovavirus BK in urine of bone marrow transplant recipients: comparison of DNA hybridization with ELISA. J Med Virol. 1985 May;16(1):29–36. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890160105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Aulakh G. S., Kleinman J. E., Aulakh H. S., Albrecht P., Torrey E. F., Wyatt R. J. Search for cytomegalovirus in schizophrenic brain tissue. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1981 Jun;167(2):172–174. doi: 10.3181/00379727-167-41144. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Birnboim H. C. A rapid alkaline extraction method for the isolation of plasmid DNA. Methods Enzymol. 1983;100:243–255. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)00059-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cabrera C. V., Wohlenberg C., Openshaw H., Rey-Mendez M., Puga A., Notkins A. L. Herpes simplex virus DNA sequences in the CNS of latently infected mice. Nature. 1980 Nov 20;288(5788):288–290. doi: 10.1038/288288a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cappel R., Gregoire F., Thiry L., Sprecher S. Antibody and cell-mediated immunity to herpes simplex virus in psychotic depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 1978 Mar;39(3):266–268. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chesters P. M., Heritage J., McCance D. J. Persistence of DNA sequences of BK virus and JC virus in normal human tissues and in diseased tissues. J Infect Dis. 1983 Apr;147(4):676–684. doi: 10.1093/infdis/147.4.676. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cleobury J. F., Skinner G. R., Thouless M. E., Wildy P. Association between psychopathic disorder and serum antibody to herpes simplex virus (type 1). Br Med J. 1971 Feb 20;1(5746):438–439. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5746.438. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Crow T. J., Ferrier I. N., Johnstone E. C., Macmillan J. F., Owens D. G., Parry R. P., Tyrrell D. A. Characteristics of patients with schizophrenia or neurological disorder and virus-like agent in cerebrospinal fluid. Lancet. 1979 Apr 21;1(8121):842–844. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)91262-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dörries K., ter Meulen V. Progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy: detection of papovavirus JC in kidney tissue. J Med Virol. 1983;11(4):307–317. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890110406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Esiri M. M. Herpes simplex encephalitis. An immunohistological study of the distribution of viral antigen within the brain. J Neurol Sci. 1982 May;54(2):209–226. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(82)90183-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fraser N. W., Lawrence W. C., Wroblewska Z., Gilden D. H., Koprowski H. Herpes simplex type 1 DNA in human brain tissue. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Oct;78(10):6461–6465. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.10.6461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Gannicliffe A., Saldanha J. A., Itzhaki R. F., Sutton R. N. Herpes simplex viral DNA in temporal lobe epilepsy. Lancet. 1985 Jan 26;1(8422):214–215. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)92043-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gilden D. H., Vafai A., Shtram Y., Becker Y., Devlin M., Wellish M. Varicella-zoster virus DNA in human sensory ganglia. Nature. 1983 Dec 1;306(5942):478–480. doi: 10.1038/306478a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Grinnell B. W., Padgett B. L., Walker D. L. Distribution of nonintegrated DNA from JC papovavirus in organs of patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. J Infect Dis. 1983 Apr;147(4):669–675. doi: 10.1093/infdis/147.4.669. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Halonen P. E., Rimon R., Arohonka K., Jäntti V. Antibody levels to herpes simplex type I, measles and rubella viruses in psychiatric patients. Br J Psychiatry. 1974 Nov;125:461–465. doi: 10.1192/bjp.125.5.461. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. King D. J., Cooper S. J., Earle J. A., Martin S. J., McFerran N. V., Rima B. K., Wisdom G. B. A survey of serum antibodies to eight common viruses in psychiatric patients. Br J Psychiatry. 1985 Aug;147:137–144. doi: 10.1192/bjp.147.2.137. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lederberg E. M., Cohen S. N. Transformation of Salmonella typhimurium by plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid. J Bacteriol. 1974 Sep;119(3):1072–1074. doi: 10.1128/jb.119.3.1072-1074.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Peden K., Mounts P., Hayward G. S. Homology between mammalian cell DNA sequences and human herpesvirus genomes detected by a hybridization procedure with high-complexity probe. Cell. 1982 Nov;31(1):71–80. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90406-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Pogo B. G., Elizan T. S. Search for viral DNA sequences in Alzheimer brain tissue. Lancet. 1985 Apr 27;1(8435):978–979. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)91743-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Puga A., Rosenthal J. D., Openshaw H., Notkins A. L. Herpes simplex virus DNA and mRNA sequences in acutely and chronically infected trigeminal ganglia of mice. Virology. 1978 Aug;89(1):102–111. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(78)90044-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Rigby P. W., Dieckmann M., Rhodes C., Berg P. Labeling deoxyribonucleic acid to high specific activity in vitro by nick translation with DNA polymerase I. J Mol Biol. 1977 Jun 15;113(1):237–251. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(77)90052-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Seidlin M., Takiff H. E., Smith H. A., Hay J., Straus S. E. Detection of varicella-zoster virus by dot-blot hybridization using a molecularly cloned viral DNA probe. J Med Virol. 1984;13(1):53–61. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890130107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sequiera L. W., Jennings L. C., Carrasco L. H., Lord M. A., Curry A., Sutton R. N. Detection of herpes-simplex viral genome in brain tissue. Lancet. 1979 Sep 22;2(8143):609–612. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)91667-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Spector S. A., Rua J. A., Spector D. H., McMillan R. Detection of human cytomegalovirus in clinical specimens by DNA-DNA hybridization. J Infect Dis. 1984 Jul;150(1):121–126. doi: 10.1093/infdis/150.1.121. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Taylor G. R., Crow T. J., Higgins T., Reynolds G. Search for cytomegalovirus in postmortem brain tissue from patients with Huntington's chorea and other psychiatric disease by molecular hybridization using cloned DNA. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1985 Mar;44(2):176–184. doi: 10.1097/00005072-198503000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Taylor G. R., Crow T. J., Markakis D. A., Lofthouse R., Neeley S., Carter G. I. Herpes simplex virus and Alzheimer's disease: a search for virus DNA by spot hybridisation. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1984 Oct;47(10):1061–1065. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.47.10.1061. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Torrey E. F., Yolken R. H., Winfrey C. J. Cytomegalovirus antibody in cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenic patients detected by enzyme immunoassay. Science. 1982 May 21;216(4548):892–894. doi: 10.1126/science.6281883. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Tyrrell D. A., Parry R. P., Crow T. J., Johnstone E., Ferrier I. N. Possible virus in schizophrenia and some neurological disorders. Lancet. 1979 Apr 21;1(8121):839–841. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)91261-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Warren K. G., Devlin M., Gilden D. H., Wroblewska Z., Brown S. M., Subak-Sharpe J., Koprowski H. Isolation of Herpes simplex virus from human trigeminal ganglia, including ganglia from one patient with multiple sclerosis. Lancet. 1977 Sep 24;2(8039):637–639. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)92501-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES