Some people who have what doctors currently call schizophrenia or bipolar disease may actually have a brain disease caused by auto-antibodies. Auto-antibodies are produced when the normal defense mechanism of the body goes wrong and begins to attack the body, similar to "friendly fire." Auto-antibodies attack brain receptors and then the person who has this problem begins to have hallucinations and other manifestations of schizophrenia, like feeling that people can see what they are thinking and also feeling that other people do not like them. If this disease is caused by auto-antibodies, typically the person is well until they are 15 years of age or older, but seldom older than 35 years. Then, in a matter of a few months they begin to have hallucinations and the other symptoms. Doctors still do not know whether some people with schizophrenia or bipolar disease have auto-antibodies attacking their brain. For this reason, in this study some of these patients will receive a treatment that suppresses the auto-antibodies and their symptoms after treatment will be compared with the symptoms of a group of similar patients who are given a preparation that looks like the real treatment, but it is not.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
40
Administration of MINI, PANSS and Quality of Living scales
Physical, neurological and cognitive evaluations.
Metabolic panel, CBC and differential, urinalysis, ECG, recreational drugs. CD19+ B-cell count.
Two IV infusions of 300 mg of ocrelizumab 2 weeks apart
Houston Methodist Research Institute
Houston, Texas, United States
RECRUITINGScore on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)
It measures symptoms of psychosis
Time frame: Six months
Score on quality of life scales for psychiatric patients
(modified to include input by caregivers)
Time frame: Six months
Score on NIH Cognitive Toolbox
Tablet-implemented tool testing cognitive abilities, including working memory
Time frame: Six months
Antipsychotic-equivalent medication ordered by patient's psychiatrist
Dose of medications for psychosis transformed to a standard equivalent
Time frame: Six months
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