Could cat - sugar disease be connect to schizophrenic psychosis ? A pilot subject has propose that people with schizophrenic psychosis are more potential to be infect withBartonella , the bacteria behind cat - scratch disease .
The enquiry only involved a very small numeral of people , so the findings should not be amplify – but it could highlight an intriguing way of life in which infective agent are linked to schizophrenia and other mental health issue . The finding were latterly report in the journalVector - Borne and Zoonotic Diseases .
Researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina carried out blood exam on 17 hoi polloi with diagnosed schizophrenic psychosis or schizoaffective disorder , along with a control group of 13 healthy adults , to test for evidence ofBartonellainfection . Out of the 17 patient with schizophrenia , 12 hadBartonellaDNA in their blood , while evidence of the infection was recover in just one person in the ascendancy chemical group .
The nature of this potential link between contagion and schizophrenia is not cleared , since the study did not set out to find a causal connexion between the two . In other words , there ’s no evidence the bacteria in reality played a role in the development of schizophrenia . However , the researchers fence their preliminary finding open up an challenging path for further inquiry
Bartonellais a common genus of bacteria that ’s transmitted by animate being vector such as ticks , fleas , sand flies , and mosquito . One of the most infamous species of this genus , Bartonella henselae , is the causative agent ofcat - scratch disease , an contagion spread by true cat that infects overten thousand peoplein the US each year . Most infections are mild , causing piffling more than a red combat injury site and self-conceited lymph node , but it can have people to have serious complications including brain protrusion . It ’s also become increasingly unmistakable thatBartonellais not always a abruptly - experience infection , and can continue to linger within some hoi polloi .
The connectedness between the infection and mental wellness has also been suggest at before . In March 2019 , the same team of scientistspublished a case studywhere a case of sudden - onset puerile schizophrenic disorder was seemingly linked to aB. henselaeinfection . Theirfollow - up studylooked at 33 similar cases where masses had neuropsychiatric symptoms and suspected pic toBartonellabacteria . They find oneself evidence of a late or current Bartonella contagion in 29 of the 33 people studied .
Once again , it should be accent that great and more refined studies are needed before any of these proposed links are nailed down . Nevertheless , the team certainly seems to intend they ’re on to something .
“ investigator have been looking at the connection between bacterial infection and neuropsychiatric disease for some time , ” Dr Erin Lashnits , first subject area author , a former veterinary internist at NC State , current faculty appendage at the University of Wisconsin , said in astatement .
“ Specifically , there has been inquiry suggesting that cat ownership is associated with dementia praecox due to the zoonotic parasiteToxoplasma gondii , but to date there has been no conclusive evidence in keep of a causative role for this parasite . So we decide to seem at another cat - relate infective agent , Bartonella , to see if there could be a connection . ”
