OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to compare the White Blood Cell count and morphology in the Cerebrospinal fluid of:1) patients diagnosed with first onset treatment naive schizophrenia; 2) patients with chronic schizophrenia and 3) healthy subjects.
METHODOLOGY: CSF samples from 16 chronic schizophrenics, 15 first onset treatment naive schizophrenics and normal controls were collected and analyzed by histopathology.
RESULTS: The cytological profile of CSF cells were significantly different from those of the control population. Total cell count was significantly higher in patients with first onset and chronic schizophrenia compared to normal subjects except in neutrophils. There was also a difference in the mean number of cells among groups, with chronic schizophrenics having the most number of large lymphocytes compared to first onset schizophrenia and control groups. The number of macrophages and neutrophils were not statistically significant.
CONCLUSION: The finding of atypical lymphocytes in the CSF suggest that immunologic aberration does occur in schizophrenia and point towards a chronic degenerative process.