Serological Fractions in Schizophrenia.

The last decade has witnessed an intensive investigation into the possible biochemical disturbances associated with schizophrenia and other forms of mental disorders. As in previous decades, the investigations have turned up largely negative results, and what few purported positive findings may have been disclosed were either not subsequently confirmed, or regarded seriously. One area, however, has continued to arouse the interest and imagination of biochemists and psychiatrists alike, and this area is concerned with possible abnormalities in the proteins or other chemical constituents of schizophrenic serum. The present volume, which attempts to summarize to date the research on this problem in the US and abroad, was edited by Dr. R. E. Heath, who in 1956 was the first to describe the isolation and effects of a "schizophrenogenic" factor in schizophrenic serum which he termed "taraxein." This volume, which is a compilation of articles by numerous investigators interested in serological