A case of GABAR antibodies in schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: In the last couple of years, schizophrenia was often discussed as autoimmune disease. Several antibodies were suspected, but so far there has been no proof of Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor antibodies in patients with schizophrenia. CASE PRESENTATION: In this case report we present a 21-year old woman with schizophrenic symptoms, who showed anti-GABAB1 antibodies when screened by a vast recombinant neurology mosaic on Human Embryonic Kidney Cells 293 (HEK293) cells. The young woman presented with various psychotic symptoms as well as speech and motor ataxia, with the neurological signs starting in childhood. CONCLUSION: A hypofunction of the GABAergic system is a possible cause of severe schizophrenic symptoms. Postmortem studies proved this hypothesis by showing dysfunctional GABAergic interneurons in various brain areas. Therefore one should always think of an immune-mediated pathogenesis as well memory impairment and behavioral changes co-occur with frequent seizures.