New research is the latest to find evidence of a link between mental illness and infections caused by a group of bacteria common in cats and other animals. The small study found that people with diagnosed schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder were more likely to carry Bartonella bacteria in their bloodstream than a control group of patients. However, more research is needed to definitively show whether these infections can indeed contribute to mental illness.
Acute infections where Bartonella bacteria can be particularly serious for this people in poor health or with a weakened immune system. Most people are thought to cause only mild and short-term illness. However, Ed Breitschwerdt and his fellow researchers at North Carolina State University have theorized for years that the health effects of these infections could be deeper in at least some unfortunate people.
Their previous work has marked the case of a 14-year-old boy who suddenly developed schizophrenia-like symptoms and was later found to be a carrier of a strain of Bartonella known to cause cat scratch disease. In that case, the boy’s serious psychiatric problems seemed to disappear after his chronic Bartonella infection was treated with antibiotics. Last year they have published Research shows that other people with similar neuropsychiatric symptoms often carried these bacteria along with physical symptoms of a persistent infection that occurred around the same time, such as various skin lesions.
For this new study, the NC State researchers teamed up with researchers from the University of North Carolina. Their study, published last week in vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, compared 17 people with diagnosed schizophrenia or schizoaffectionive disorder for a control group of 13 healthy people, in what is known as a case-control study.
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According to the study, both groups received a comprehensive examination. This included the use of more sensitive PCR tests, which look for the DNA presence of pathogens in our body. Bartonella is a bit strange among bacteria, as they are able to infect and then hide in the cells of our body (red blood cells, in Bartonella’s case). This disappearance trick allows them to survive without being noticed by the immune system, and it also makes conventional tests worse at detecting an active infection. Last year Breitschwerdt and his colleagues published research showing that this newer testing technique called droplet digital or ddPCR testing could be more accurate at identifying Bartonella than older tests.
Traces of Bartonella DNA could be found in 11 of 17 people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, while the same was true for only one of 13 control patients. While cats, dogs, and even the fleas they carry may be vectors for Bartonella transmission, the team found no link between a greater likelihood of infection and reported pet ownership or flea exposure.
The team carefully describes their work as a pilot study, solely to prove that further research on this link is worthwhile. But in conjunction with their previous research, Breitschwerdt thinks the arguments for this theory are only getting stronger.
“Our research to date continues to support a role for Bartonella kind as a cause or co-factor in neuropsychiatric disorders, ”Breitschwerdt told Gizmodo in an email.
However, he added, “There is still a lot of work to be done to clarify these preliminary results.”
The team is already validating ddPCR tests for other groups of bacteria that can enter the bloodstream and may be more difficult to find with standard tests. With more funding and collaboration with other research centers, they also hope to conduct a larger study comparing people with and without schizophrenia.