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Immunophenotypic studies on atypical lymphocytes in psychiatric patients
1Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan.
Insights
Schizophrenia patients exhibit significantly higher blast-type atypical lymphocytes (BTALs) in peripheral blood compared to controls. These BTALs comprise B, T, and non-B, non-T cells, with most expressing HLA-DR and CD38.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Psychiatry
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Blast-type atypical lymphocytes (BTALs) are morphologically distinct cells found in peripheral blood.
- Previous research has not extensively characterized BTAL populations in psychiatric disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the frequency and phenotypic characteristics of BTALs in patients with schizophrenia and mood disorder compared to healthy controls.
- To determine the cell subpopulations and surface antigen expression of BTALs.
Main Methods:
- Phase-contrast microscopy and fluorescent staining techniques were employed.
- Peripheral blood samples from 24 schizophrenia patients, 16 mood disorder patients, and 14 healthy controls were analyzed.
- Immunostaining was used to identify BTAL subpopulations and surface markers.
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia patients showed a significantly higher frequency of BTALs than healthy controls and mood disorder patients.
- A significant difference in BTAL frequency was also observed between mood disorder patients and healthy controls.
- BTALs consisted of B, T, and non-B, non-T cells, with T cells comprising one-third of the population. Most BTALs expressed HLA-DR and CD38, while CD25 was rarely detected.
Conclusions:
- Elevated BTALs in schizophrenia suggest a potential role for these atypical lymphocytes in the pathophysiology of the disorder.
- The phenotypic profile of BTALs, particularly the expression of HLA-DR and CD38, warrants further investigation in psychiatric conditions.
- This study provides the first report on BTAL populations in psychiatric disorders, highlighting differences compared to infectious or autoimmune diseases.
Abstract:
By using phase-contrast microscopy combined with a fluorescent staining technique, the frequency of blast-type atypical lymphocytes (BTALs) appearing in peripheral blood and the phenotypic expression of their surface antigens were studied in 24 patients with schizophrenia, 16 with mood disorder and 14 healthy controls. BTALs were classified as being stimulated or activated cells, morphologically characterized by their large size, dark cytoplasm, a hollow perinuclear containing a few granules and finely dispersed chromatin structures with a few evident nucleoli. A significantly higher number of BTALs were found in the schizophrenic patients compared with healthy control subjects or patients with mood disorder. Further, there was a significant difference in the frequency of BTALs between patients with mood disorder and healthy control subjects. No significant difference in the frequency of BTALs was found between the schizophrenic patients with and without medication. Immunostaining of BTALs revealed that these cells consisted of B, T and non-B, non-T cell subpopulations. Contrary to our expectations, the T cell was only one third of the BTAL population. HLA-DR and CD38 were expressed on most BTALs (> 70%), while CD25, an early activation marker of T cells was rarely found on BTALs (< 0.3%). The differences in activated lymphocyte populations which appeared as morphologically atypical in the circulation among some psychiatric patients and infectious or autoimmune diseases are discussed. This is the first report on populations of BTALs.