title: Abnormalities in connectivity of white-matter tracts in patients with familial and non-familial schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Abnormalities in the connectivity of white-matter (WM) tracts in schizophrenia are supported by evidence from post-mortem investigations, functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The aims of this study were to explore the microstructural changes in first-episode schizophrenia in a Han Chinese population and to investigate whether a family history of psychiatric disorder is related to the severity of WM tract integrity abnormalities in these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  T1-weighted MR and DT images were collected in 68 patients with first-episode schizophrenia [22 with a positive family history (PFH) and 46 with a negative family history (NFH)] and 100 healthy controls. Voxel-based analysis was performed and WM integrity was quantified by fractional anisotropy (FA). Cluster- and voxel-level analyses were performed by using two-sample t tests between patients and controls and/or using a full factorial model with one factor and three levels among the three sample groups (patients with PFH or NFH, and controls), as appropriate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FA deficits were observed in the patient group, especially in the left temporal lobe and right corpus callosum. This effect was more severe in the non-familial schizophrenia than in the familial schizophrenia subgroup.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that loss of WM integrity may be an important pathophysiological feature of schizophrenia, with particular implications for brain dysmaturation in non-familial and familial schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Laboratory and Department of Psychiatry, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lui
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: McAlonan
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Sham
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Collier
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult