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The Difference of Grey Matter Volume Among the Patients of Schizophrenia

Completed
Conditions
Cognitive Dysfunction
Neuroimaging
Schizophrenia
Interventions
Other: This is not an intervention study
Registration Number
NCT05262790
Lead Sponsor
Shanghai Mental Health Center
Brief Summary

Schizophrenia is a heritable complex phenotype whose symptoms can be clustered into three domains: positive symptoms, negative symptoms and cognitive impairments. Constellations of negative symptoms in SCZ are composed of diminished motivation and pleasure, such as asociality, anhedonia, and avolition, or diminished expressivity such as blunted affect and alogia. Negative symptoms are associated with decreased quality of life and poor functional outcomes. Although antipsychotics are generally effective on positive symptoms, they are poorly effective on negative symptoms Currently, there are no licensed targeted medications for negative symptoms. In view of these problems, considerable interest in identifying new treatment targets for negative symptoms has grown over the past decade. Despite intense efforts in brain imaging that have opened new opportunities for addressing these issues, the neurobiological mechanism of negative symptoms remains unclear.

Structural brain measures from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are highly heritable and representatively have high reproducibility and low measurement error. Prior neuroimaging researches have consistently shown neuroanatomical abnormalities in the brains of individuals with SCZ, with the most robust and consistent group-level structural differences in widespread reduced volumes of hippocampal thalamus, amygdala and nucleus accumbens. SCZ have been associated with widespread structural brain abnormalities, but results from neuroimaging studies have been inconsistent.

Detailed Description

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a heritable complex phenotype whose symptoms can be clustered into three domains: positive symptoms, negative symptoms and cognitive impairments. Constellations of negative symptoms in SCZ are composed of diminished motivation and pleasure, such as asociality, anhedonia, and avolition, or diminished expressivity such as blunted affect and alogia. Negative symptoms are associated with decreased quality of life and poor functional outcomes. Although antipsychotics are generally effective on positive symptoms, they are poorly effective on negative symptoms Currently, there are no licensed targeted medications for negative symptoms. In view of these problems, considerable interest in identifying new treatment targets for negative symptoms has grown over the past decade. Despite intense efforts in brain imaging that have opened new opportunities for addressing these issues, the neurobiological mechanism of negative symptoms remains unclear.

Structural brain measures from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are highly heritable and representatively have high reproducibility and low measurement error. Prior neuroimaging researches have consistently shown neuroanatomical abnormalities in the brains of individuals with SCZ, with the most robust and consistent group-level structural differences in widespread reduced volumes of hippocampal thalamus, amygdala and nucleus accumbens. SCZ have been associated with widespread structural brain abnormalities, but results from neuroimaging studies have been inconsistent.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
253
Inclusion Criteria
  • All the patients satisfied the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-Ⅳ) diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder.
  • Women and men
  • 18 to 60 years of age
  • Able and willing to provide written informed consent; and willing to commit to the study protocol
  • Able to read, speak, and understand Chinese
Exclusion Criteria
  • (i) were <18 years or >60 years
  • (ii) psychotic patients in unstable clinical condition (e.g., being aggressive and uncooperative)
  • (iii) had major neurological or other psychiatric disorders, or significant medical condition including neurological disease, severe cardiovascular, hepatic, renal diseases
  • (iv)had MRI abnormalities, or had MRI contraindications.

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
PNS groupThis is not an intervention studyThe patients with prominently negative symptoms (PNS) had a greater score on the negative than on the positive subscale of the PANSS, a negative symptoms score \> 20, and at least one of items from PANSS negative symptoms scale ≥ 4 points
PPS groupThis is not an intervention studyThe patients with predominantly positive symptoms (PPS) had a greater score on the positive than on the negative subscale of the PANSS
ControlThis is not an intervention studyHealthy control
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
GMV difference among PNS, PPS and HC groups.baseline

PNS、PPS and HC will undergo Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at baseline. And the GMV of the three group was collected and analysed.1)The PNS patients showed longer duration, less positive symptoms, more severe PANSS-total symptoms and negative symptoms (all p values ≤ 0.001) than PPS. 2)compared with HC group, PPS group showed reduced GMV in the right orbital gyrus.

PPI network construction and hub gene identification.baseline

1)PPI analysis of hub genes revealed a network consisting of 10 connected proteins and 33 edges, which is remarkably significantly higher than the expected 2 edges.2)PPI analysis revealed a network consisting of 461 connected proteins and 706 edges, which is remarkably significantly higher than the expected 621 edges

Identifying genes associated with GMV alterations in PNS.baseline

1)PLS1 weighted gene expression profile was positively correlated with PNS vs. HC GMV difference.2)The 2 overlapping genes (GRM7, RASSF7) exhibited significant negative correlations with regional GMV alterations in schizophrenia patients with predominantly negative symptoms.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
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