Work

PM475. White matter abnormalities and their associations with clinical symptoms in first episode and drug-naïve patients with schizophrenia

Year: 2016

Type: conference-abstract

Abstract: Background: Increasing evidence show that disruption of connectivity has been implicated as a central abnormality in schizophrenia, and the alterations in white matter (WM) may be the core basis for this disconnection. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has shown WM abnormalities in first episode schizophrenia. However, few studies have examined the correlation between clinical symptoms and WM abnormalities in first-episode and drug-naïve schizophrenia. Method: The WM fractional anisotropy (FA) values of the whole-brain were determined using voxel-based DTI in 39 first-episode and drug-naïve schizophrenia patients (diagnosed according to DSM-IV) and 30 healthy controls matched for age and gender. The psychopathology of schizophrenia was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results: The patients showed widespread FA reduction in several brain regions, including corpus callosum, brainstem, internal capsule, cingulate and cerebellum in first-episode patients with schizophrenia when compared to healthy controls (all p<0.01 after adjusting for gender, age and education). The correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between the FA value in the left cerebellum and positive symptoms (r=-0.32, df=38, p<0.05), and a significantly positive correlation between the FA values in the corpus callosum and both the PANSS general psychopathology subscore (r=0.39, df=38, p=0.01) and the PANSS total score (r=0.33, df=38, p<0.05). Conclusions: Our results indicate that widespread disruption of white matter integrity occurs in an early stage of schizophrenic onset, suggesting an important role in pathogenesis and symptomatology of schizophrenia.

Source: The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology

DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyw041.475