Feng Sitong, Zheng Sisi, Dong Linrui, Li Ziyan, Zhu Hong, Liu Shanshan, Li Xue, Ning Yanzhe, Jia Hongxiao
Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
J Psychiatr Res. 2024 Mar;171:215-221. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.01.020. Epub 2024 Jan 17.
Aripiprazole modulates functional connectivity (FC) between several brain regions in first-episode schizophrenia patients, contributing to improvement in clinical symptoms. However, the effects of aripiprazole on abnormal connections among extensive brain networks in schizophrenia patients remain unclear. We aimed to investigate the effects of 12 weeks of aripiprazole treatment on the FC of large-scale brain networks. Forty-five first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia patients and 45 healthy controls were recruited for this longitudinal study. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected at baseline and after 12 weeks of aripiprazole treatment. The patients were classified into those in response (SCHr group) and non-response (SCHnr group) according to the improvement of clinical symptoms after 12-weeks treatment. The FC were evaluated for seven large-scale brain networks. In addition, correlation analysis was performed to investigate associations between changes FC of large-scale brain networks and clinical symptoms. Before aripiprazole treatment, schizophrenia patients showed decreased FC of extensive brain networks compared to healthy controls. The 12-week aripiprazole treatment significantly prevented the constantly decreased FC of subcortical network, default mode network and other brain networks in patients with SCHr, in association with the improvement of clinical symptoms. Taken together, these findings have revealed the effects of aripiprazole on FC in large-scale networks in schizophrenia patients, which could provide new insight on interpreting symptom improvement in SCH.
阿立哌唑可调节首发精神分裂症患者多个脑区之间的功能连接（FC），有助于改善临床症状。然而，阿立哌唑对精神分裂症患者广泛脑网络间异常连接的影响仍不清楚。我们旨在研究12周阿立哌唑治疗对大规模脑网络功能连接的影响。本纵向研究招募了45名首发未用药的精神分裂症患者和45名健康对照者。在基线期和阿立哌唑治疗12周后收集静息态功能磁共振成像（fMRI）数据。根据12周治疗后临床症状的改善情况，将患者分为有反应组（SCHr组）和无反应组（SCHnr组）。对七个大规模脑网络的功能连接进行评估。此外，进行相关性分析以研究大规模脑网络功能连接变化与临床症状之间的关联。在阿立哌唑治疗前，与健康对照者相比，精神分裂症患者广泛脑网络的功能连接降低。12周的阿立哌唑治疗显著阻止了SCHr患者皮质下网络、默认模式网络和其他脑网络功能连接的持续降低，这与临床症状的改善相关。综上所述，这些发现揭示了阿立哌唑对精神分裂症患者大规模网络功能连接的影响，这可为解释精神分裂症症状改善提供新的见解。
