T-cell subsets in acute psychotic schizophrenic patients

Two-color flow cytometric analysis was performed on peripheral blood lymphocytes of 16 untreated schizophrenic patients during an acute psychotic attack and 16 healthy control subjects to evaluate differences in T-cell subpopulations. In schizophrenic patients, we observed decrease in CD4⁺ 2H4⁺ (suppressor-inducer) and CD8⁺ 2H4⁺ (suppressor-effector) T-cell subsets. The selective loss of 2H4⁺ cell marker both on helper and suppressor T cells was not correlated to the severity of the acute psychosis. Our results may indicate a mechanism of an immune disequilibrium in schizophrenia patients during an acute psychotic attack.