Is treatment-resistant schizophrenia associated with distinct neurobiological callosal connectivity abnormalities?

Author(s):Show less -

Assuncao-Leme, Idaiane Batista ^{[1, 2]} ; Zugman, Andre ^{[1, 2]} ; de Moura, Luciana Monteiro ^{[3, 4]} ; Sato, Joao Ricardo ^{[2, 5]} ; Higuchi, Cinthia ^{[1, 2]} ; Ortiz, Bruno Bertolucci ^{[1, 2, 6]} ; Noto, Cristiano ^{[1, 2, 6]} ; Ota, Vanessa Kiyomi ^{[7, 1, 2]} ; Belangero, Sintia Iole ^{[7, 1, 2]} ; Bressan, Rodrigo A. ^{[1, 2, 6]} ; Crossley, Nicolas A. ^{[8, 9, 10, 11]} ; Jackowski, Andrea P. ^{[1, 2]} ; Gadelha, Ary ^{[1, 2, 6]}

Affiliation:Show less -

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Psiquiatria, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Lab Interdisciplinar Neurociencias Clin LiNC, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Hosp Israelita Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Diagnost Imagem, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[5] Univ Fed ABC UFABC, Ctr Math Comp & Cognit, Santo Andre, SP - Brazil

^[6] Univ Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Programa Esquizofrenia, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[7] Univ Fed Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Morfol & Genet, Disciplina Genet, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[8] Kings Coll London, Inst Psychiat Psychol & Neurosci, Dept Psychosis Studies, London - England

^[9] Pontificia Univ Catolica Chile, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, Santiago - Chile

^[10] Pontificia Univ Catolica Chile, Biomed Imaging Ctr, Santiago - Chile

^[11] Pontificia Univ Catolica Chile, Ctr Integrat Neurosci, Santiago - Chile

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: CNS SPECTRUMS; v. 26, n. 5, p. 545-549, OCT 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 2

Abstract

Background Resistance to antipsychotic treatment affects up to 30% of patients with schizophrenia. Although the time course of development of treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) varies from patient to patient, the reasons for these variations remain unknown. Growing evidence suggests brain dysconnectivity as a significant feature of schizophrenia. In this study, we compared fractional anisotropy (FA) of brain white matter between TRS and non-treatment-resistant schizophrenia (non-TRS) patients. Our central hypothesis was that TRS is associated with reduced FA values. Methods TRS was defined as the persistence of moderate to severe symptoms after adequate treatment with at least two antipsychotics from different classes. Diffusion-tensor brain MRI obtained images from 34 TRS participants and 51 non-TRS. Whole-brain analysis of FA and axial, radial, and mean diffusivity were performed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) and FMRIB's Software Library (FSL), yielding a contrast between TRS and non-TRS patients, corrected for multiple comparisons using family-wise error (FWE) Results We found a significant reduction in FA in the splenium of corpus callosum (CC) in TRS when compared to non-TRS. The antipsychotic dose did not relate to the splenium CC. Conclusion Our results suggest that the focal abnormality of CC may be a potential biomarker of TRS. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/07280-1 - Search for genetic markers of risk, progression and response to treatment
• Grantee: Síntia Iole Nogueira Belangero
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 10/08968-6 - Investigation of genetic and epigenetic markers: a translational approach for schizophrenia treatment
• Grantee: Síntia Iole Nogueira Belangero
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants