140. Inflammation Alters Brain Function in Critical Regions and Cognitive Performance in Schizophrenia
Year: 2017
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: To examine variations in BOLD responses to working memory and episodic memory to peripheral inflammatory markers Methods: Early course schizophrenia (SZ = 20) patients and healthy controls (HC = 26) were examined for group differences in BOLD responses to working memory and episodic memory tasks on a 3 T Scanner using block design. Two serum inflammatory markers (interleukin-6 [IL-6] and C-reactive proteins [CRP]) were measured using ultra-sensitive assays. SPM8 was used to process functional MRI data. Letter n-back was used for the working memory. Encoding and retrieval of episodic memory was examined using emotionally neutral pictures. Results: Mean age (SZ, 27.44 ± 9.87 years; HC, 26.38 ± 6.78 years) and sex (SZ, M/F 10/9; HC, M/F 8/15) did not differ between the groups. Illness duration was 4.28 ± 3.53 years. CRP levels were higher in SZ compared to HC (t = 2.05, P = .047) but not IL-6. Working memory: Diagnosis effect: SZ subjects took longer for 0-back (P = .045) and 1-back (P = .015) and a trend for the 2-back (P = .088) compared to HC but no differences in performance accuracy. SZ subjects showed higher BOLD responses to 1-back in the inferior parietal lobule (BA 40) and right lingual gyrus, and to 2-back, in the superior temporal gyrus (BA 42, 22), and right cuneus. The PFC showed increased BOLD response at corrected P < .06. Correlation of IL-6 & CRP: IL-6 levels positively correlated with BOLD responses at the right lingual gyrus (r = .55, P = .002) and inferior parietal lobule (BA 40; r = .43, P = .02) for 1 back. CRP levels correlated positively with BOLD responses at the PFC (BA 10 and ACC; r = .37, P = .047) for 2-back. Quadratic regression provided the best fit for BOLD response correlations at these regions. IL-6 and CRP did not correlate with response time or accuracy. Episodic memory: Diagnosis effects: Response time of SZ subjects (1164.87 ± 184.07 ms) was longer compared to HC (954.77 ± 106.78 ms; P < .001) with no differences in accuracy. BOLD responses for encoding did not differ between SZ and HC. SZ subjects showed higher BOLD response compared to HC for retrieval in the right middle frontal gyrus (BA 8/9) and bilateral thalami (left thalamic pulvinar/ventral posterior lateral thalamus, and the right posterior lateral thalamus). Correlation with IL-6 & CRP: BOLD responses from the ventral posterior lateral thalamus and the pulvinar of thalamus positively correlated with both IL-6 and CRP levels (partial r = .34, P = .03). Cubic regression provided the best fit for the correlation BOLD response Conclusion: Our data suggest that SZ subjects show greater hemodynamic effort to perform on par with HC. BOLD responses for both working memory and episodic memory tasks correlated with IL-6 and CRP levels. Further, SZ subjects may be vulnerable to elevated BOLD responses even at relatively low levels of IL-6 and CRP than HC. At higher levels of CRP and IL-6, HC and SZ showed similar BOLD responses.
Source: Schizophrenia Bulletin
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2603284633