Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T02:43:24.311Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The role of maternal infectious diseases during pregnancy in the etiology of schizophrenia in offspring

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

G Stöber
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Wuerzburg, Fuechsleinstrasse 15, WuerzburgW-8700, Germany
E Franzek
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Wuerzburg, Fuechsleinstrasse 15, WuerzburgW-8700, Germany
H Beckmann
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Wuerzburg, Fuechsleinstrasse 15, WuerzburgW-8700, Germany
Get access

Summary

In 55 chronic schizophrenics, the occurrence of infectious diseases during their mothers’ pregnancies was investigated. Different psychiatric diagnostic systems were compared. Infections were reported by the mothers of familial and sporadic DSM III-R schizophrenics in equal proportion. However, applying Leonhard's classification, the frequency of infections was found to be significantly increased in ‘systematic’ schizophrenia (mainly exogenously induced in the view of Leonhard) compared to ‘unsystematic’ schizophrenia (mainly genetically determined according to Leonhard's findings). Most of the infections occurred during the second trimester (nine out of 13). Thus, in the ‘systematic’ forms of schizophrenia (low genetic loading), maternal infections in this crucial period of neurodevelopmenl would appear to be important causative factors in the cytoarchitectural deviance delected in the central nervous system of schizophrenics.

Type
Original article
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier, Paris 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 3rd edn, revised. APA, Washington DCGoogle Scholar
Arnold, SEHyman, BTvan Hoesen, GWDamasio, AR (1991) Cytoarchitectural abnormalities of the entorhinal cortex in schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 48, 625632CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Astrup, C (1979) The Chronic Schizophrenias. Oslo, Universitets-forlagetGoogle Scholar
Ban, TA (1982) Chronic schizophrenias: A guide to Leonhard's classification. Compr Psychiatry 23, 155165CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barr, CEMednick, SAMunk-Jorgensen, P (1990) Exposure to influenza epidemics during gestation and adult schizophrenia. A 40 year study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 47, 869874CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beckmann, HJakob, H (1991) Prenatal disturbances of nerve cell migration in the entorhinal region: a common vulnerability factor in functional psychoses? J Neural Transm 84, 155164CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradbury, TNMiller, GA (1985) Season of birth in schizophrenia: a review of evidence, methodology and etiology. Psychol Bull 98, 569594CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeLisi, LEDauphinais, IDGershon, ES (1988) Perinatal complications and reduced size of brain limbic structures in familial schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 14, 185191CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Falkai, PBogerts, BRozumek, M (1988) Limbic pathology in schizophrenia: The entorhinal region - a morphometric study. Biol Psychiatry 24, 515521CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fish, FJ (1962) Schizophrenia. Wright, BristolGoogle Scholar
Franzek, EBeckmann, H (1991) Syndrom - und Symptomentwicklung schizophrener Langzeitverläufe. Nervenarzt 62, 549556Google Scholar
Franzek, EBeckmann, H (1992) Season-of-birth effect reveals the existence of etiologically different groups of schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry (in press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franzek, EBeckmann, H (1992) Schizophrenia: Not a disease entity? A study of 57 longterm hospitalized chronic schizophrenics. Eur J Psychiatry (in press)Google Scholar
Gottesman, IIShields, J (1982) Schizophrenia. The Epigenetic Puzzle. Cambridge Univ Press, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, M (1979) Fish's Schizophrenia. Wright, BristolGoogle Scholar
Jacob, HBeckmann, H (1986) Prenatal developmental disturbances in the limbic allocortex in schizophrenia. J Neural Transm 65, 303326CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JofFe, MGrisso, JA (1985) Comparison of ante-natal hospital records with retrospective interviewing. J Bio Soc Sci 17, 113119Google ScholarPubMed
Kendler, KSHays, P (1982) Familial and sporadic schizophrenia: a symptomatic, prognostic and EEG comparison. Am J Psychiatry 139, 15571562Google ScholarPubMed
Kringlen, E (1990) Genetic aspects of schizophrenia with special emphasis on twin research. In: Etiology of Mental Disorder (Kringlen, ELavik, NJTorgersen, S eds) University of Oslo, Oslo, 6380Google Scholar
Leonhard, K (1979) The classification of endogenous psychoses. Irvington, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Leonhard, K (1980) Contradictory issues in the origin of schizophrenia. Br J Psychiatry 136, 437444CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, SWReveley, AMReveley, MAChitkara, BMurray, RM (1987) The familial/sporadic distinction as a strategy in schizophrenia research. Br J Psychiatry 151, 306313CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNeil, TF (1987) Perinatal influcences in the development of schizophrenia. In: Biological Perspectives of Schizophrenia (Helmchen, HHenn, FA eds) Wiley, ChichesterGoogle Scholar
Mednick, SAMachon, RAHuttunen, MOBonett, D (1988) Adult schizophrenia following prenatal exposure to an influenza epidemic. Arch Gen Psychiatry 45, 189192CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murray, RMReveley, AM (1985) Towards an etiological classification of schizophrenia. Lancet 10231026CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Callaghan, ELarkin, CWaddington, JL (1990) Obstetric complications in schizophrenia and the validity of maternal recall. Psychol Med 20, 8994CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Callaghan, ESham, PTakei, NGlover, G (1991) Schizophrenia after prenatal exposure to 1957 A2 influenza epidemic. Lancet 12481249CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rakic, P (1978) Neuronal migration and the contact guidance in the primate telencephalon. Postgrad Med J 54, 2540Google ScholarPubMed
Rakic, P (1988) Specification of cerebral cortical areas. Science 241Google ScholarPubMed
Torrey, EFRawlings, RWaldman, IN (1988) Schizophrenic births and viral diseases in two states. Schizophr Res 1, 7377CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tsuang, MTKendler, KKGruenberg, AM (1985) DSM III schizophrenia: Is there evidence for familial transmission? Acta Psychiatr Scand 71, 7783CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, CGKucala, TTilleskjor, CJakobs, L (1984) Schizophrenic birth seasonality in relation to the incidence of infectious diseases and temperature extremes. Arch Gen Psychiatry 41, 8595CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wenar, C (1963) The reliability of developmental histories. Psychosom Med 25, 505509CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organisation (1979) Mental disorders: Glossary and guide to their classification in accordance with the ninth revision of the international classification of diseases. WHO, GenevaGoogle Scholar
Wynne, LCCromwell, RLMatthysse, S (1978) The Nature of schizophrenia: New Approaches to Research and Treatment. John Wiley, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.