[Peripheral blood lymphocytes as a biological indicator of physiologic processes in schizophrenia]

The results of studying the properties of peripheral blood lymphocytes in schizophrenic patients are reviewed. Three parameters are specified in which the patients' lymphocytes differ substantially from those of healthy donors: these are the resistance to osmotic shock and responses of the cells to stimulation with phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A. It is shown that all the three parameters are controlled by different factors of the schizophrenics' blood serum. Two of them correlate with the clinical manifestations of the disease. It is concluded that the lymphocytes of schizophrenic patients can serve as a biological indicator of the pathophysiological processes taking place in that disease.