Arginine vasopressin in the cytoplasm and nuclear fraction of lymphocytes from healthy donors and patients with depression or schizophrenia

We investigated whether cytoplasmic or nuclear extracts of human peripheral blood lymphocytes contain AVP in samples from healthy controls and patients diagnosed as depressed or schizophrenic. Both the cytoplasmic and nuclear extracts contained AVP as determined by radioimmunoassay. AVP and other peptides were detected in the purified samples by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. It is the first time that AVP has been characterized in human lymphocytes of patients with depression or schizophrenia. This finding demonstrates the presence of another important component within the potential regulatory loop between immune and neuro-endocrine tissues.