Seasonal correlation of sporadic schizophrenia to <it>Ixodes</it> ticks and Lyme borreliosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Being born in winter and spring is considered one of the most robust epidemiological risk factors for schizophrenia. The aetiology and exact timing of this birth excess, however, has remained elusive so far. Since during phylogeny, <it>Borrelia</it> DNA has led to multiple germ-line mutations within the CB1 candidate gene for schizophrenia, a meta analysis has been performed of all papers on schizophrenic birth excesses with no less than 3000 cases each. All published numerical data were then plotted against the seasonal distributions of <it>Ixodes</it> ticks worldwide.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the United States, Europe and Japan the birth excesses of those individuals who later in life develop schizophrenia mirror the seasonal distribution of <it>Ixodes</it> ticks nine months earlier at the time of conception. South of the Wallace Line, which limits the spread of <it>Ixodes</it> ticks and <it>Borrelia burgdorferi</it> into Australia, seasonal trends are less significant, and in Singapore, being non-endemic for <it>Ixodes</it> ticks and Lyme disease, schizophrenic birth excesses are absent.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>At present, it cannot be excluded that prenatal infection by <it>B. burgdorferi</it> is harmful to the implanting human blastocyst. The epidemiological clustering of sporadic schizophrenia by season and locality rather emphasises the risk to the unborn of developing a congenital, yet preventable brain disorder later in life.</p>

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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