BACKGROUNDTo investigate whether Borna disease virus (BDV) infection is related to the schizophrenic patients from China.

METHODSA reliable Western-blot method for detection of BDV-p24 antibody was established by adjusting the reaction conditions of BDV-p24 recombinant protein and specific antibodies. The sera of schizophrenic patients and normal controls from Heilongjiang Province were screened for specific BDV-p24 antibody by this method, and the BDV-p24 antibody positive sera were confirmed by the Western-blot method with sera-GST protein absorption.

RESULTSTen of 116 (8.6%) schizophrenic patients were found to be positive for BDV-p24 specific antibody, while no BDV-p24 specific antibody was found in sera of normal controls.

CONCLUSIONSThe results demonstrate that the Borna disease virus infection also exists in China, and the infection is possibly associated with schizophrenia in some way.

Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; Blotting, Western ; Borna disease virus ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Schizophrenia ; virology ; Viral Proteins ; immunology

Abstract A large rubella epidemic is currently ongoing since 2018 in Osaka, Japan. The detected rubella viruses were classified into genotypes 1E lineage 2 and 2B lineage 1. These strains may have been imported from endemic countries, and these viruses spread within the susceptible population.