title: Right lateralized white matter abnormalities in first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia.
abstract: Numerous studies in first-episode schizophrenia suggest the involvement of white matter (WM) abnormalities in multiple regions underlying the pathogenesis of this condition. However, there has never been a neuroimaging study in patients with first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia by using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) method. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with TBSS method to investigate the brain WM integrity in patients with first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia. Twenty patients with first-episode, drug-naive paranoid schizophrenia and 26 healthy subjects matched with age, gender, and education level were scanned with DTI. An automated TBSS approach was employed to analyze the data. Voxel-wise statistics revealed that patients with paranoid schizophrenia had decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) II, the right fornix, the right internal capsule, and the right external capsule compared to healthy subjects. Patients did not have increased FA values in any brain regions compared to healthy subjects. There was no correlation between the FA values in any brain regions and patient demographics and the severity of illness. Our findings suggest right-sided alterations of WM integrity in the WM tracts of cortical and subcortical regions may play an important role in the pathogenesis of paranoid schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhening
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Keming
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Changqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Huafu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jingping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D012563:Schizophrenia, Paranoid / Q000473:pathology*