title: [Comparison of right thalamus and temporal cortex metabolite levels of drug-naive first-episode psychotic and chronic schizophrenia in patients].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to use Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) to investigate whether patients with chronic schizophrenia have different brain metabolite levels in the temporal cortex and thalamus than drug-naive first-episode patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared right-handed male first-episode patients (n=13) and chronic schizophrenic cases (n=15) with gender- and handedness-matched controls (n=10). Right temporal and right thalamic N-Acetylaspartate (NAA)/Creatine (Cre), NAA/Choline (Cho), and Cho/Cre ratios were obtained with MRS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Right temporal NAA/Cre, NAA/Cho, and right thalamus NAA/Cre ratios were significantly lower both in the chronic and first-episode patient groups when compared to normal controls (p<. 001), suggesting decreased neuronal integrity in both patient groups. There were no significant correlations between symptom severity and functional status with MRS variables (p=.027). These results suggested that both patient groups had neural integrity problems. Duration of illness (days) in the first-episode patients was significantly correlated with right temporal NAA/Cre and NAA/Cho.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggested that first-episode and chronic patients had significantly impaired neural integrity, particularly in the temporal cortex. It seems that in the acute phase of the first-episode, neural integrity impairment increased along with days elapsed without treatment.
authors.affiliation: GATA Hayadarpaşa Eğitim Hastanesi, Istanbul. cengizbasoglu@superonline.com
authors.forename: Cengiz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Başoğlu
authors.forename: Mesut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cetin
authors.forename: Ozgür
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oner
authors.forename: Servet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ebrinç
authors.forename: Umit Başar
authors.initials: UB
authors.lastname: Semiz
authors.forename: Hamdi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kandilcioğlu
authors.forename: Emir
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Silit
authors.forename: Efreş
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kizilkaya
mesh_terms: D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002794:Choline / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D003401:Creatine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline