Am J Psychiatry 1981; 138:1208-1211
Copyright © 1981 by American Psychiatric Association
Wheat gluten challenge in schizophrenic patients
SG Potkin, D Weinberger, J Kleinman, H Nasrallah, D Luchins, L Bigelow, M Linnoila, SH Fischer, TD Bjornsson, J Carman, JC Gillin and RJ Wyatt
Eight chronic schizophrenic patients were maintained on a diet free of
gluten, cereal grains, and milk (CM-F diet) and challenged in a double-
blind manner with dietary wheat gluten and placebo. While on the CM-F diet,
each patient received a daily challenge of 30 g of gluten for 5 weeks and a
placebo challenge for 8 weeks. No deterioration in clinical status as
measured by the BPRS was noted on gluten challenge. Serum alpha 1 acid
glycoprotein measurement demonstrated no evidence of inflammatory response
to gluten challenge. The data suggest that sensitivity to dietary gluten is
not characteristic of young chronic schizophrenic patients.
