A study of antibody levels in alcoholic, depressive and schizophrenic patients.

A study was undertaken to compare IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE and IgD antibodies in adult alcoholic, depressive and schizophrenic patients with healthy, adult controls. Total IgG, -IgA, -IgM, -IgE, and -IgD and specific-IgE antibodies were assessed using 33 allergens: 12 inhalant and 21 foods. There was no significant difference observed in the total immunoglobulin results between the patients and controls. There were, however, significant differences between the groups for allergen specific-IgE with the depressive patients exhibiting the greatest number of positive test results. The depressives had an over-all t-test value of 10.080 (5% = 1.960), the alcoholics t = 6.800 and the schizophrenics t = 6.015. The most often positive allergens were those from the perennial/mold group, although the most frequently positive single allergen was egg white and 100% of the depressives were sensitive to it. The data in this investigation suggest that psychiatric patients with alcohol dependence, depression and schizophrenia be studied further so that information on a causal relationship between allergen specific-IgE antibodies and these mental disorders can be evaluated.