Schizophrenia and llama antibodies

Schizophrenia affects 1% of the population, and treatments are the subject of extensive research. Work carried out by the CNRS, Inserm, and the University of Montpellier on mice has reportedly developed a new therapeutic approach using antibodies... from llamas.

𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐚 is a psychiatric disorder characterized by a 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, productive symptoms (delusions and hallucinations) and passive symptoms (social and relational isolation), although symptoms can vary greatly from one patient to another. Treatment combines 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 therapies. It enables approximately one-third of patients to achieve lasting remission.

In the brain, the 𝐠𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 (excitatory system) is particularly involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and causes “glutamatergic storms,” which result in 𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲. The authors of a recent article published in 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 used nanobodies, very small antibodies 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐬 (𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬) that are able to cross the 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝-𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫, to regulate glutamatergic receptors with few side effects.

The results showed that nanobodies were able to 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐬 in two mouse models with 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬. The nanobodies persisted in the brain for 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝟕 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 after a single intravenous or intraperitoneal injection in mice, suggesting that daily doses would not be necessary.