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Nucleoprotein in the Nerve Cells of Mental Patients: A Critical Remark

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

A. Meyer
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropathology, Research Laboratory, Maudsley Hospital, London
M. Meyer
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropathology, Research Laboratory, Maudsley Hospital, London

Extract

Hydén and Hartelius in a recent monograph (1) described nerve cell abnormalities which they consider to be characteristic of mental disease. Their investigations were based on biopsies obtained during prefrontal leucotomy carried out in 11 psychotic patients, 10 of whom belonged to the schizophrenic group. The biopsies were investigated by means of the ultraviolet microscope and the results compared with brain material from normal patients fixed a few hours after death. Two types of abnormal nerve cells were found in the psychotic patients: one type is narrow and shrunken with corkscrew-shaped apical process and appears dark in the photographs in contrast to the other type which is swollen and appears light in the photographs. Both these cells lacked polynucleotides in their cell bodies and contained only a small amount of other protein substances, as shown by the ultraviolet absorption spectra.

Type
Part I.—Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1949 

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References

1 Hydén, H., and Hartelius, H., “Stimulation of the Nucleoprotein Production in the Nerve Cells by Malononitrile and its Effect on Psychic Functions in Mental Disorder,” Acta Psychiatrica et Neurologica, Suppl., 48.Google Scholar
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