TY - JOUR
T1 - Reduced N-acetyl-aspartate levels in schizophrenia patients with a younger onset age
T2 - A single-voxel 1H spectroscopy study
AU - Stanley, Jeffrey A.
AU - Vemulapalli, Madhuri
AU - Nutche, Jeffrey
AU - Montrose, Debra M.
AU - Sweeney, John A.
AU - Pettegrew, Jay W.
AU - MacMaster, Frank P.
AU - Keshavan, Matcheri S.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by NIH/NCRR/GCRC grant M01 RR00056 and NIMH grant MH45156; the NIMH had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Funding Information:
This publication was supported by funds received from the NIH/NCRR/GCRC grant M01 RR00056. We thank Drs. Cameron S. Carter MD and Gretchen Haas PhD, and the clinical core staff of the Center for the Neuroscience of Mental Disorders (MH45156) for their assistance in diagnostic and psychopathological assessments.
Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2007/7
Y1 - 2007/7
N2 - Schizophrenia is widely considered a neurodevelopmental disorder. The timing of psychosis onset may determine the degree of functional and biological deficits. In this study, the association between age of onset of psychosis and in vivo biochemical levels was assessed in first-episode, antipsychotic-naive (FEAN) schizophrenia subjects. We hypothesized greater biochemical deficits in the younger-onset FEAN subjects. In vivo, 1H spectroscopy measurements of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) were conducted on FEAN subjects (15 schizophrenia and 3 schizoaffective subjects) and healthy comparison subjects of comparable age and gender distribution (N = 61). N-acetyl-aspartate was significantly lower in the left DLPFC of FEAN subjects as compared to healthy comparison subjects. However, there was a significant subject group-by-age interaction for N-acetyl-aspartate. Early-onset FEAN subjects showed lower N-acetyl-aspartate levels compared to the younger healthy comparison subjects, while adult-onset FEAN and older healthy comparison subjects did not differ. The lower N-acetyl-aspartate levels in the DLPFC of early-onset subjects suggest a reduction in functioning neurons or specifically a reduction in the proliferation of dendrites and synaptic connections, which is not apparent in the adult-onset schizophrenia subjects.
AB - Schizophrenia is widely considered a neurodevelopmental disorder. The timing of psychosis onset may determine the degree of functional and biological deficits. In this study, the association between age of onset of psychosis and in vivo biochemical levels was assessed in first-episode, antipsychotic-naive (FEAN) schizophrenia subjects. We hypothesized greater biochemical deficits in the younger-onset FEAN subjects. In vivo, 1H spectroscopy measurements of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) were conducted on FEAN subjects (15 schizophrenia and 3 schizoaffective subjects) and healthy comparison subjects of comparable age and gender distribution (N = 61). N-acetyl-aspartate was significantly lower in the left DLPFC of FEAN subjects as compared to healthy comparison subjects. However, there was a significant subject group-by-age interaction for N-acetyl-aspartate. Early-onset FEAN subjects showed lower N-acetyl-aspartate levels compared to the younger healthy comparison subjects, while adult-onset FEAN and older healthy comparison subjects did not differ. The lower N-acetyl-aspartate levels in the DLPFC of early-onset subjects suggest a reduction in functioning neurons or specifically a reduction in the proliferation of dendrites and synaptic connections, which is not apparent in the adult-onset schizophrenia subjects.
KW - Dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex
KW - Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy
KW - Schizophrenia
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U2 - 10.1016/j.schres.2007.03.028
DO - 10.1016/j.schres.2007.03.028
M3 - Article
C2 - 17498928
AN - SCOPUS:34249277055
VL - 93
SP - 23
EP - 32
JO - Schizophrenia Research
JF - Schizophrenia Research
SN - 0920-9964
IS - 1-3
ER -