Kung L, Roberts R C
Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore 21228, USA.
Synapse. 1999 Jan;31(1):67-75. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2396(199901)31:1<67::AID-SYN9>3.0.CO;2-#.
Studies using in vivo imaging or microscopic analysis of autopsy specimens indicate abnormalities in the striatum of schizophrenics including lower striatal metabolism, a change which can be normalized by antipsychotic medication. To investigate the possibility that abnormalities in schizophrenia brain may be due, in part, to pathology in mitochondria, organelles which generate energy, postmortem brain tissue from schizophrenic and control cases was obtained from the Maryland Brain Collection. Mitochondria in electron micrographs of striatal neuropil were counted and digitized. The caudate and the putamen of the schizophrenic subjects contained significantly (P < 0.05) fewer (a decrease of approximately 20%) mitochondrial profiles throughout the neuropil than did normal controls. The numbers of mitochondrial profiles per axon terminal appeared lower in the subset of schizophrenics off-drug as compared to either the subset of schizophrenics on-drug or to controls, suggesting that neuroleptic treatment may normalize this measure. The structural integrity of mitochondrial profiles in the schizophrenic striata was not obviously different from that of controls. Fewer mitochondrial profiles suggest decreased energy demands or diminished capacity to respond to energy requirements in the structures that contain them. These data are consistent with other studies showing decreased metabolism in the striatum of schizophrenics and may identify, in part, the anatomical basis of this deficit.
使用体内成像或尸检标本显微镜分析的研究表明，精神分裂症患者的纹状体存在异常，包括纹状体代谢降低，这种变化可通过抗精神病药物恢复正常。为了研究精神分裂症患者大脑异常可能部分归因于线粒体（产生能量的细胞器）病变的可能性，从马里兰大脑库获取了精神分裂症患者和对照病例的死后脑组织。对纹状体神经纤维网电子显微镜图像中的线粒体进行计数和数字化处理。与正常对照组相比，精神分裂症患者的尾状核和壳核在整个神经纤维网中的线粒体轮廓明显减少（P < 0.05）（减少约20%）。与接受药物治疗的精神分裂症患者子集或对照组相比，未服药的精神分裂症患者子集中每个轴突终末的线粒体轮廓数量似乎更低，这表明抗精神病药物治疗可能使这一指标恢复正常。精神分裂症纹状体中线粒体轮廓的结构完整性与对照组无明显差异。线粒体轮廓较少表明能量需求降低或对包含它们的结构中能量需求的反应能力减弱。这些数据与其他显示精神分裂症患者纹状体代谢降低的研究一致，并且可能部分确定了这种缺陷的解剖学基础。
