Brain Behav Immun 2001 Dec

pregnancy in relation to the subsequent development of adult schizophrenia and

other psychoses in their offspring.  The sample included the mothers of 27

adults with schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses and 50 matched

unaffected controls from the Providence cohort of the Collaborative Perinatal

Project.  Serum samples were analyzed for interleukin 1 beta (IL-1-beta),

interleukin 1 (IL-2), interleukin 6 (IL-a6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), and tumor

necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) by enzyme immunoassay.  Maternal levels

of TNF-alpha were significantly elevated among the case series (t=2.22, p=.04),

with evidence of increasing odds of psychosis in relation to higher cytokine

levels.  We did not find significant differences between case and control

mothers in the serum levels of IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, or IL-8.  These data

support previous clinical investigations reporting maternal infections during