Patients who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia might actually be suffering from ‘immune malfunctions’ and could be treated with immunotherapy.

Trials suggest one in 11 patients sectioned for psychosis could instead have auto-immune conditions, where rogue antibodies have affected their brains.

A ‘radical’ medical investigation led by an Oxford University professor found that several patients experienced a ‘dramatic, if not total, recovery’ with immunotherapy. The world’s first clinical trial to treat a mental illness in such a way has now begun.

Trials suggest one in 11 patients sectioned for psychosis could instead have auto-immune conditions, where rogue antibodies have affected their brains

Professor Belinda Lennox, a clinical psychiatrist at Oxford, will discuss her pioneering study in a BBC documentary to be shown tonight. Her team analysed blood from 228 people with ‘first-episode’ psychosis, 9 per cent of whom had antibodies potentially relevant to their illness. ]

It is believed antibodies, proteins that help the body fight infections and can arise from disorders such as arthritis, stick to receptors in the brain, affecting memory and triggering delusions and hallucinations.

Such patients could be ‘cured’ by flushing the antibodies out of their blood and suppressing their immune system.

‘It was really fascinating and quite dramatic actually,’ said Professor Lennox. ‘We tested nearly 240 patients and we found antibodies in about one in 11 patients.’

The immunotherapy was then tested on nine of these patients, and Prof Lennox explained that ‘in patients that we’ve identified the antibody and we have treated, almost everybody has a dramatic, if not total, recovery.’

She added: ‘I have been a psychiatrist for 20 years now and this is what I’ve been waiting for, to actually find a proportion of patients that we can offer a radical new effective treatment for.’

Last night, she confirmed that the feasibility study for the clinical trial had ‘gone well’, meaning the three-year clinical trial – involving 80 patients across England – could go ahead.

The Oxford University (pictured above) study features in a mental health special of Trust Me: I’m A Doctor on BBC2 tonight at 9pm

Professor Lennox said ‘this research could take away the stigma around psychosis’.

The World Health Organisation estimates there are at least 26million people living with schizophrenia worldwide. Sufferers often lose touch with reality and experience delusions. The causes are unknown but episodes appear to be associated with changes in some brain chemicals. Stressful experiences and some recreational drugs can also trigger episodes in vulnerable people.

The Oxford study features in a mental health special of Trust Me: I’m A Doctor on BBC2 tonight at 9pm.