Abstract
Purpose: Comprehensive and longitudinal brain analysis is of great significance for understanding the pathological changes of antipsychotic drug treatment in patients with schizophrenia. This study aimed to investigate the changes of structure, function, and network properties in patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES) after antipsychotic therapy and their relationship with clinical symptoms.Materials and Methods: A total of 30 patients diagnosed with FES and 30 healthy subjects matched for sex and age were enrolled in our study. Patients at baseline were labeled as antipsychotic-naive first-episode schizophrenia (AN-FES), and patients after antipsychotic treatment were labeled as antipsychotic treatment first-episode schizophrenia (AT-FES). The severity of illness was measured by using the PANSS and CGI score. Structural and functional MRI data were also performed. Differences in GMV, ALFF, and ReHo between the FES group and healthy control group were tested using a voxel-wise two-sample t-test, and the comparison of AN-FES group and AT-FES group was evaluated by paired-sample t-test.Results: After the 1-year follow-up, the FES patients showed increased GMV in the right cerebellum, right inferior temporal gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, bilateral inferior parietal lobule, and reduced GMV in the left occipital lobe, gyrus rectus, right orbital frontal cortex. The patients also showed increased ALFF in the medial superior frontal gyrus and right precentral gyrus. For network properties, the patients showed reduced characteristic path length and increased global efficiency. The GMV of the right inferior parietal lobule was negatively correlated with the clinical symptoms.Conclusions: Our study showed that the antipsychotic treatment contributed to the structural alteration and functional improvement, and the GMV alteration may be associated with the improvement of clinical symptoms.
Highlights
Schizophrenia is a complex disease of the central nervous system, and a great deal of health care resources are devoted to these patients [1, 2]
Resting-state Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is more stable and relatively easier to perform than task state fMRI, and is mainly used for brain functional connectivity and brain network analysis
Patients at baseline were labeled as antipsychotic-naive first-episode schizophrenia (ANFES), and patients after antipsychotic treatment were labeled as antipsychotic treatment first-episode schizophrenia (ATFES)
Summary
Schizophrenia is a complex disease of the central nervous system, and a great deal of health care resources are devoted to these patients [1, 2]. The genetic and environmental factors play an important role in the occurrence and development of schizophrenia. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been widely used in the study of schizophrenia [3]. The voxel based morphometry analysis is a common method to evaluate the change of gray matter volume (GMV). Resting-state fMRI is more stable and relatively easier to perform than task state fMRI, and is mainly used for brain functional connectivity and brain network analysis. Previous studies have shown structural and functional deficits in patients with schizophrenia, which may provide useful information for understanding the pathophysiology of schizophrenia [4]
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