title: Glutamate and glutamine in the anterior cingulate and thalamus of medicated patients with chronic schizophrenia and healthy comparison subjects measured with 4.0-T proton MRS.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This in vivo (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study examined levels of glutamate, glutamine, and N-acetylaspartate in medicated patients with chronic schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Localized in vivo (1)H spectra were acquired at 4.0 T from the left anterior cingulate and thalamus of 21 patients with schizophrenia and 21 comparable healthy volunteers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significantly lower levels of glutamine and glutamate were found in the left anterior cingulate cortex of patients with schizophrenia than in the healthy volunteers. For the schizophrenia patients, the glutamine level in the left thalamus was found to be higher than normal, and there was a significant negative correlation between N-acetylaspartate level and duration of positive symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since previous studies have found higher than normal levels of glutamine in the left anterior cingulate of never-treated patients, decreased levels of these metabolites in chronic patients could be related to neurodegeneration or the effects of chronic medication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine and Magnetic Resonance, St. Joseph's Health Care, London, Ont., Canada.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Théberge
authors.forename: Yousef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Al-Semaan
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: Ravi S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.forename: Richard W J
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Neufeld
authors.forename: Nagalingam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rajakumar
authors.forename: Betsy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Densmore
authors.forename: Dick J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Drost
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D005973:Glutamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D005973:Glutamine; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D018698:Glutamic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate