Publication Type Academic Article
Authors de la Fuente-Sandoval C, Reyes-Madrigal F, Mao X, León-Ortiz P, Rodríguez-Mayoral O, Solís-Vivanco R, Favila R, Graff-Guerrero A, Shungu D
Journal Int J Neuropsychopharmacol
Volume 19
Issue 3
Pagination pyv105
Date Published 09/12/2015
ISSN 1469-5111
Keywords Corpus Striatum, Glutamic Acid, Prefrontal Cortex, Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia, gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
Abstract BACKGROUND: Dysregulations of the major inhibitory and excitatory amino neurotransmitter systems of γ-aminobutyric acid and glutamate, respectively, have been described in patients with schizophrenia. However, it is unclear whether these abnormalities are present in subjects at ultra-high risk for psychosis. METHODS: Twenty-three antipsychotic naïve subjects at ultra-high risk and 24 healthy control subjects, matched for age, sex, handedness, cigarette smoking, and parental education, underwent proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy scans in the dorsal caudate bilaterally and the medial prefrontal cortex at 3T. Levels of γ-aminobutyric acid and of the combined resonance of glutamate and glutamine (Glx) were obtained using the standard J-editing technique and expressed as peak area ratios relative to the synchronously acquired unsuppressed voxel water signal. RESULTS: Higher levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (P<.001) and Glx (P=.007) were found in the dorsal caudate of the subjects at ultra-high risk than in the healthy controls. In the medial prefrontal cortex, likewise, both γ-aminobutyric acid (P=.03) and Glx (P=.006) levels were higher in the ultra-high risk group than in the healthy controls. No group differences were found for any of the other metabolites (N-acetylaspartate, total choline, or total creatine) in the 2 regions of interest. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents the first evidence of abnormal elevations, in subjects at ultra-high risk, of γ-aminobutyric acid and Glx in 2 brain regions that have been implicated in the pathophysiology of psychosis, warranting longitudinal studies to assess whether these neurotransmitter abnormalities can serve as noninvasive biomarkers of conversion risk to psychosis as well as of illness progression and treatment response.
DOI 10.1093/ijnp/pyv105
PubMed ID 26364273
PubMed Central ID PMC4815472
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