Zhang Lei, Wang Hao, Luan Shuxin, Yang Shaojun, Wang Zhuo, Wang Jinhui, Zhao Hua
Department of Physiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Department of Radiology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Dec 22;11:636. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00636. eCollection 2017.
The pathogenesis of schizophrenia (SCH) is associated with the dysfunction of monoamine neurotransmitters, the synthesis and release of which are mainly regulated by a key structure, the habenular (Hb) nucleus. However, little is known regarding whether SCH is associated with structural or functional alterations in the Hb. In this study, we combined structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the changes in volume and functional connectivity of the Hb in 15 patients with SCH vs. 16 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs). Morphologically, the absolute volume of the bilateral Hb was significantly lower in the SCH patients than in the HCs. Functionally, the bilateral Hb showed significantly enhanced functional connectivity with the left medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the SCH patients. Additionally, the SCH patients exhibited increased functional connectivity of the left Hb with the left lingual gyrus and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). A further exploratory analysis revealed that the SCH patients showed increased functional connectivity between the right Hb and several subcortical regions related to dopaminergic pathways, including the left ventral striatum, caudate and putamen. Finally, the increased functional connectivity of the right Hb with the mPFC was positively correlated with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores in the patients. Together, these results suggest that the altered volume and functional connectivity of the Hb may be involved in the pathogenesis of SCH and thus that the Hb may serve as a potential target in developing new therapeutic strategies in SCH.
精神分裂症（SCH）的发病机制与单胺类神经递质功能障碍有关，其合成和释放主要受一个关键结构——缰核（Hb）调节。然而，关于SCH是否与Hb的结构或功能改变相关，目前知之甚少。在本研究中，我们结合结构和静息态功能磁共振成像，调查了15例SCH患者与16例年龄和性别匹配的健康对照（HCs）的Hb体积和功能连接性变化。形态学上，SCH患者双侧Hb的绝对体积显著低于HCs。功能上，SCH患者双侧Hb与左侧内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）的功能连接显著增强。此外，SCH患者左侧Hb与左侧舌回和右侧额下回（IFG）的功能连接增加。进一步的探索性分析显示，SCH患者右侧Hb与几个与多巴胺能通路相关的皮质下区域之间的功能连接增加，包括左侧腹侧纹状体、尾状核和壳核。最后，右侧Hb与mPFC之间增加的功能连接与患者的简明精神病评定量表（BPRS）评分呈正相关。总之，这些结果表明，Hb体积和功能连接的改变可能参与了SCH的发病机制，因此Hb可能成为开发SCH新治疗策略的潜在靶点。
