Inflammatory Response In Schizophrenia

Summary

Schizophrenia affects a significant proportion of the population and current levels of understanding of the illness is inadequate to treat it effectively. Converging lines of evidence suggest that neuroinflammation occurs in schizophrenia, and specifically over-activity of brain-resident immune cells called microglia. It is however unclear whether activated microglia play a primary role in schizophrenia, or whether this is a secondary phenomenon of no pathophysiological significance. The investigators therefore plan to test the effect of a monoclonal antibody (natalizumab) on psychotic symptoms in a cohort of first episode psychosis patients.

Timeline

Start

2017-04-01

Primary completion

2023-06-15

Completion

2023-08-07

Publications

• Mizuno Y, Carreira Figueiredo I, Pillinger T, Hindley G, Baxter L, Parmar S, Lobo MC, Donocik JG, Rosenzweig I, Gupta A, Callegari I, Jeljeli S, Dunn JT, Hammers A, Awais R, Sander K, Arstad E, Politis M, Schubert JJ, Veronese M, Turkheimer FE, Reis Marques T, Howes OD. Immune alterations in schizophrenia and the effects of a therapeutic antibody: a neuroimaging study. Brain. 2026 Feb 7;149(2):620-631. doi: 10.1093/brain/awaf455.

Drugs

Indications