title: 1H MRSI evidence of metabolic abnormalities in childhood-onset schizophrenia.
abstract: In adult schizophrenia, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) have revealed volumetric and metabolic defects in multiple brain regions, among them the anterior cingulate, frontal cortex, striatum, thalamus, parietal cortex, and frontal and parietal white matter. This study used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging ((1)H MRSI) to identify potential metabolic abnormalities in these regions in childhood-onset schizophrenia. (1)H MRSI was acquired at 1.5 T and 272 ms echo time in 11 children and adolescents with schizophrenia (aged 7-18 years; seven boys, four girls; all but two medicated) and 20 age-matched healthy controls (10 boys, 10 girls). Absolute levels of N-acetyl compounds (NAA), creatine plus phosphocreatine (Cr), and choline compounds (Cho) were compared among groups in each region. In schizophrenic patients relative to controls, Cr was 14.3% higher in superior anterior cingulate (mean of left and right hemispheres). Cho was higher in superior anterior cingulate (30.3%), frontal cortex (13.3%), and caudate head (13.5%). In the thalamus, there was also a diagnosis-by-gender interaction, whereby NAA was lower in patients for male but not for female subjects. Elevated Cr suggests abnormal local cell-energy demand and elevated Cho is consistent with a prior proposal that patients with early age-of-onset schizophrenia exhibit phospholipid membrane disturbances. Low NAA may reflect diminished neuronal integrity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. joneill@mednet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: Rochelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Asarnow
authors.forename: James T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: McCracken
authors.forename: Arthur W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Toga
authors.forename: Jeffry R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Alger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D010725:Phosphocreatine / Q000378:metabolism; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013788:Thalamus / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D010725:Phosphocreatine; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline