BALTIMORE — A new medical study out of Johns Hopkins Children's Center could potentially be a game changer for those suffering certain mental disorders.
Hopkins researchers say they found evidence suggesting hepatitis C (HCV) may contribute to bipolar and schizophrenia symptoms.
While previous studies have tied HCV to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder before, Hopkins scientists claim no such infection was ever discovered around the brain of these patients.
That's what makes this newest revelation so notable, because the Hopkins team led by Dr. Sarven Sabunciyan examined the brains of 285 million patients via electronic records to see if they could detect anything near the brain.
Lo and behold, they surely did.
While not quite directly on the brain, HCV was spotted in cells making up the brain's protective lining, which can still affect a person's behavior.
Sabunciyan now wonders whether bipolar and schizophrenia could simply be treated with antiviral drugs.
“Our findings show that it’s possible that some people may be having psychiatric symptoms because they have an infection, and since the hepatitis C infection is treatable, it might be possible for this patient subset to be treated with antiviral drugs and not have to deal with psychiatric symptoms,” said Sabunciyan, who also serves as an associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
In another surprising twist, HCV was not always found in the brain lining of those who previously tested positive for HCV, but more so in those diagnosed as bipolar and schizophrenic.
"The researchers found that more viruses were present in samples from people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Notably, the virus was not present in some individuals who were known to have a chronic HCV diagnosis, suggesting that the infection does not always spread to the brain lining," researchers concluded. "HCV was documented in 3.6% of those with schizophrenia and 3.9% of those with bipolar disorder — almost double that of those with major depression (1.8%)."
HCV has become quite common, infecting an estimated 50 million people worldwide, with 1 million new infections reported each year.
Generally HCV is contracted through infected blood.
Since it impacts the liver, HCV can be deadly if left untreated, yet 50 to 75 percent of carriers experience no symptoms.
As for bipolar disorder, approximately nine in 200 American adults will experience symptoms during their lifetime.
Schizophrenia, meanwhile, hinders between one and three of every 400 adults in the U.S..
The full study can be read here.
