Cigarette smoking and progressive brain volume loss in schizophrenia.
It is unknown whether the reported brain loss in schizophrenia can be attributed to the effects of tobacco smoking. 96 Patients (54 smokers/42 non-smokers) and 113 control subjects (35/78) were included in a 5-year longitudinal MRI study. Despite the higher prevalence of smoking behavior and the higher number of cigarettes consumed per day in the patients, cigarette smoking did not explain the excessive cerebral (gray matter) volume decreases in the patients. Moreover, smoking was not associated with brain volume change over time in the healthy subjects. However, extremely heavy smoking may contribute to excessive gray matter volume loss in schizophrenia.
Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands. n.e.m.vanharen@umcutrecht.nl
N E M
NE
Van Haren
P C M P
PC
Koolschijn
W
W
Cahn
H G
HG
Schnack
H E
HE
Hulshoff Pol
R S
RS
Kahn
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012907:Smoking / Q000473:pathology*