Saturday, January 30, 2010

VIRUS ASSOCIATION TO COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Schizophr Res. 2008 Dec;106(2-3):268-74. Epub 2008 Sep 17.
Antibodies to cytomegalovirus and Herpes Simplex Virus 1 associated with cognitive function in schizophrenia.
Shirts BH, Prasad KM, Pogue-Geile MF, Dickerson F, Yolken RH, Nimgaonkar VL.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairment in the form of decreased working memory and executive functions has been recognized as a key deficit in schizophrenia. Neurotropic viruses have been associated with focal gray matter deficits in patients with schizophrenia. We evaluated whether such agents alter cognitive function in schizophrenia.
METHODS: The sample consisted of 329 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. We evaluated associations between exposure to selected agents (Herpes Simplex Viruses 1 and 2 (HSV1, HSV2 respectively) cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Toxoplasma gondii) and scores on the Trail Making Test (TMT), controlling for relevant variables.
RESULTS: Serological evidence of exposure to CMV was associated with impaired performance on TMT part A time to completion (p=0.044), a measure of visual search, working memory, and psychomotor speed. Both CMV and HSV1 were significantly associated with increased errors on TMT part B

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