Abnormal distributions of T-lymphocyte subsets in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with acute schizophrenia.

We analysed the percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 31 acutely ill schizophrenic patients. The psychotic patients had in their CSF clearly altered proportions of CD4+ and/or CD8+ T cells. As compared to the distribution of T cell subsets in the CSF from non-psychotic controls, the schizophrenic patients displayed both abnormally high and abnormally low frequencies of CD4+ and/or CD8+ cells. Changes in the distribution of T cell subsets corresponding to those seen in the CSF were not observed in paired blood samples from schizophrenic patients.