From previous collaborative studies with the Worcester State and Medfield State Hospitals and the Protein Foundation, we have reported evidence for a taraxein-like substance found in human plasma proteins which may be related to schizophrenia.1,2 The plasma factor has been shown to disturb the performance of trained rat behavior to a significantly greater degree when derived from the blood of schizophrenic patients than from the blood of psychotic nonschizophrenic individuals or from normal persons. The factor may be a concomitant of disease or stress processes so plasma factor titers were investigated in physically ill persons without psychiatric disorders to settle this point.
Methods
Nonpsychotic donors for the study were patients of the Rutland Heights VA Hospital selected from the following categories: (1) tuberculosis, (2) carcinoma, (3) chronic hospitalization, and (4) post-operative. Collections from psychotic individuals were obtained at the Medfield and Worcester State Hospitals primarily