Institute of Mental Health, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
PLoS One. 2012;7(7):e40247. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040247. Epub 2012 Jul 3.
Loss of gray matter has been previously found in early-onset schizophrenic patients. However, there are no consistent findings between studies due to different methods used to measure grey matter volume/density and influences of confounding factors.
The volume of gray matter (GM) was measured in 29 first episode early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) and 34 well-matched healthy controls by using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Psychotic symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The correlations between the GM volume and PANSS scores, age of psychosis onset, duration of psychosis, and chlorpromazine (CPZ) equivalent value were investigated.
Relative to healthy subjects, the patients with first episode EOS showed significantly lower GM volume in the left middle and superior temporal gyrus. The loss of GM volume negatively correlated with PANSS-positive symptoms (p = 0.002), but not with PANSS-negative symptoms, PANSS-general psychopathology, and PANSS-total score. No significant correlation was found between GM volume and age of psychosis onset, duration of psychosis, and CPZ equivalent value.
Patients with first episode EOS have evidence of reduced GM in the left middle and superior temporal gyrus. Structural abnormalities in the left middle and superior temporal gyrus may contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
先前的研究发现，早发性精神分裂症患者存在灰质丢失。然而，由于用于测量灰质体积/密度的方法不同，以及混杂因素的影响，不同研究之间的结果并不一致。
通过基于体素的形态测量学（VBM），对 29 名首发早发性精神分裂症（EOS）患者和 34 名匹配良好的健康对照组的灰质体积（GM）进行了测量。使用阳性和阴性综合征量表（PANSS）评估精神症状。研究了 GM 体积与 PANSS 评分、精神病发病年龄、精神病持续时间和氯丙嗪（CPZ）等效值之间的相关性。
与健康受试者相比，首发 EOS 患者左中颞叶和上颞叶的 GM 体积明显降低。GM 体积的丢失与 PANSS 阳性症状呈负相关（p = 0.002），但与 PANSS 阴性症状、PANSS 一般精神病理学和 PANSS 总分无关。GM 体积与精神病发病年龄、精神病持续时间和 CPZ 等效值之间无显著相关性。
首发 EOS 患者存在左中颞叶和上颞叶 GM 减少的证据。左中颞叶和上颞叶的结构异常可能导致精神分裂症的病理生理学变化。
