Bodnár Andor L, Stevens Daniel A, Paez Adrian G, Ultz Kia, Ross Christopher A, Hua Jun, Margolis Russell L
Schizoaffective Disorder Precision Medicine Center of Excellence, Division of Neurobiology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Division of MR Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
Psychoradiology. 2025 Feb 7;5:kkaf001. doi: 10.1093/psyrad/kkaf001. eCollection 2025.
We previously reported lower baseline arteriolar cerebral blood volumes (CBVa) in almost all gray matter regions in a cohort of individuals with schizophrenia of varying ages and disease duration. The extent to which decreased CBVa is also present in recent-onset schizophrenia, and how this impacts neurovascular coupling, remains to be determined. In this study, we sought to determine the extent of CBVa deficits in recent-onset schizophrenia and the relationship of CBVa to region-specific resting-state neural activity.
Using 7 T MRI, CBVa was measured in 90 regions using 3D inflow-based vascular-space-occupancy (iVASO) imaging in 16 individuals with recent-onset schizophrenia (disease duration: x̄ = 1.18 ± 1.4 years) and 12 age-matched controls. Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) was used to determine fractional amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and intrinsic connectivity (ICC) in spontaneous blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal. The region-specific relationship between CBVa and fALFF was determined as an index of neurovascular coupling.
Compared with healthy participants, CBVa was lower in individuals with schizophrenia in almost all brain regions, with a global effect size of 0.23 and regional effect sizes up to 0.41. Individuals with schizophrenia also exhibited lower fALFF diffusely across cortical and subcortical gray matter regions. Ratios of mean regional CBVa to fALFF and ICC were significantly lower in patients in numerous brain regions.
These findings indicate that early-stage schizophrenia is characterized by widespread microvascular abnormalities and associated resting-state deficits in neural activity, suggesting that abnormalities in neurovascular coupling may contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
我们之前报道，在一个不同年龄和病程的精神分裂症患者队列中，几乎所有灰质区域的基线脑动脉血容量（CBVa）均较低。近期发病的精神分裂症患者中CBVa降低的程度以及这如何影响神经血管耦合，仍有待确定。在本研究中，我们试图确定近期发病的精神分裂症患者中CBVa缺陷的程度以及CBVa与区域特异性静息态神经活动的关系。
使用7T磁共振成像（MRI），通过基于三维流入的血管空间占据（iVASO）成像，在16名近期发病的精神分裂症患者（病程：平均值 = 1.18 ± 1.4年）和12名年龄匹配的对照者中测量90个区域的CBVa。使用静息态功能MRI（rs-fMRI）来确定自发血氧水平依赖（BOLD）信号中的低频波动分数振幅（fALFF）和内在连接性（ICC）。CBVa与fALFF之间的区域特异性关系被确定为神经血管耦合的指标。
与健康参与者相比，精神分裂症患者几乎所有脑区的CBVa均较低，整体效应大小为0.23，区域效应大小高达0.41。精神分裂症患者在皮质和皮质下灰质区域也普遍表现出较低的fALFF。在多个脑区，患者的平均区域CBVa与fALFF和ICC的比率显著较低。
这些发现表明，早期精神分裂症的特征是广泛的微血管异常和相关的静息态神经活动缺陷，提示神经血管耦合异常可能导致精神分裂症的病理生理过程。
