Domagała Adam, Domagała Lucyna, Kopiś-Posiej Natalia, Harciarek Michał, Krukow Paweł
Department of Clinical Neuropsychiatry, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
Non-Public Health Facility "OKO-MED", Sandomierz, Sandomierz County, Poland.
Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 19;14:1207608. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1207608. eCollection 2023.
Previous studies evaluating the morphology of the selected retinal layers in schizophrenia showed abnormalities regarding macular thickness, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNLF), and ganglion cell complex (GCC). Concurrently, accumulating neuroimaging results suggest that structural alterations of the brain in this disease might be an effect of accelerated aging. Referring to these findings, we aimed to determine whether the thinning of the retinal layers assessed with the optic coherence tomography (OCT) in a group of schizophrenia patients ( = 60) presents a significant age-related decrease exceeding potential changes noted in the control group ( = 61). Samples of patients and controls were divided into three age subgroups, namely, younger, middle-aged, and older participants. OCT outcomes, such as macular thickness and volume, macular RNFL, peripapillary RNFL, and GCC, were analyzed concerning a diagnosis status (controls vs. patients) and age subgroups. Additionally, associations between retinal parameters, age, and selected cognitive functions were evaluated. tests revealed that macular thickness and volume in patients undergo significant age-dependent thinning, which was not observed in the control group. Regression analyses confirmed the association between macular morphology and age. Selected speed-dependent cognitive functions in patients decreased significantly with age, and these features were also significantly associated with some OCT outcomes also after controlling for antipsychotic treatment. Our results suggest that reduced measures of retinal structure detected in schizophrenia may be an effect of accelerated aging; however, further research is needed using computational solutions derived from brain imaging studies based on large datasets covering representatives of all age groups.
先前评估精神分裂症患者所选视网膜层形态的研究表明，在黄斑厚度、视网膜神经纤维层（RNFL）和神经节细胞复合体（GCC）方面存在异常。同时，越来越多的神经影像学结果表明，该疾病中大脑的结构改变可能是加速衰老的结果。参照这些发现，我们旨在确定一组精神分裂症患者（n = 60）经光学相干断层扫描（OCT）评估的视网膜层变薄是否呈现出与年龄相关的显著下降，且超过了对照组（n = 61）中所观察到的潜在变化。将患者和对照组样本分为三个年龄亚组，即年轻、中年和老年参与者。针对诊断状态（对照组与患者组）和年龄亚组，分析了OCT结果，如黄斑厚度和体积、黄斑RNFL、视乳头周围RNFL和GCC。此外，还评估了视网膜参数、年龄和所选认知功能之间的关联。检验显示，患者的黄斑厚度和体积随年龄显著变薄，而对照组未观察到这种情况。回归分析证实了黄斑形态与年龄之间的关联。患者中所选的速度依赖型认知功能随年龄显著下降，并且在控制抗精神病治疗后，这些特征也与一些OCT结果显著相关。我们的结果表明，精神分裂症患者视网膜结构测量值降低可能是加速衰老的结果；然而，需要基于涵盖所有年龄组代表的大型数据集，利用脑成像研究得出的计算方法进行进一步研究。
