Cerebral grey matter changes of pre- and post-treatment in first-episode drug-naive adolescents schizophrenia

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the gray matter(GM) volume and the change of GM volume after antipsychotic treatment for 8 weeks in first-episode drug-naive adolescents with schizophrenia. Methods: T1-weighted brain MRIs were obtained on a 3T scanner in 35 controls and 35 subjects with adolescents schizophrenia who were admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical College from April 2015 to June 2016 and not given antipsychotic medication, the schizophrenia patients received second scan after 8 weeks of antipsychotic treatment. Positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) assessments were performed in patients pre- and post-treatment; voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to analyze changes of GM volume and the correlation between the baseline GM volume and the PANSS scores was further analyzed. Results: GM volumes in the left frontal gyrus (MIN(x, y, z): -13.5, 36, 46.5), left superior parietal lobule (MIN(x, y, z): -52.5, -42, 52.5), left inferior parietal lobule (MIN(x, y, z): -31.5, -45, 69) and left central anterior (MIN(x, y, z): 9, 21, 61.5) were significantly smaller than those in the normal control group (t=-4.384 0, -4.556 2, -6.430 9, -4.313 9 respectively, P<0.001); after treatment for 8 weeks PANSS scores were significantly lower than those of baseline (P<0.001), however, there was no significant difference in regional GM volume between the pre-and post-treatment (P>0.05) and no significant correlation was found between GM volume and PANSS scores. Conclusion: There are local GM volume reductions in subjects with adolescents schizophrenia and these regions may be independent to mental symptoms of patients.