title: Apoptotic markers in cultured fibroblasts correlate with brain metabolites and regional brain volume in antipsychotic-naive first-episode schizophrenia and healthy controls.
abstract: Cultured fibroblasts from first-episode schizophrenia patients (FES) have shown increased susceptibility to apoptosis, which may be related to glutamate dysfunction and progressive neuroanatomical changes. Here we determine whether apoptotic markers obtained from cultured fibroblasts in FES and controls correlate with changes in brain glutamate and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and regional brain volumes. Eleven antipsychotic-naive FES and seven age- and gender-matched controls underwent 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Glutamate plus glutamine (Glx) and NAA levels were measured in the anterior cingulate (AC) and the left thalamus (LT). Hallmarks of apoptotic susceptibility (caspase-3-baseline activity, phosphatidylserine externalization and chromatin condensation) were measured in fibroblast cultures obtained from skin biopsies after inducing apoptosis with staurosporine (STS) at doses of 0.25 and 0.5 μM. Apoptotic biomarkers were correlated to brain metabolites and regional brain volume. FES and controls showed a negative correlation in the AC between Glx levels and percentages of cells with condensed chromatin (CC) after both apoptosis inductions (STS 0.5 μM: r = -0.90; P = 0.001; STS 0.25 μM: r = -0.73; P = 0.003), and between NAA and cells with CC (STS 0.5 μM induction r = -0.76; P = 0.002; STS 0.25 μM r = -0.62; P = 0.01). In addition, we found a negative correlation between percentages of cells with CC and regional brain volume in the right supratemporal cortex and post-central region (STS 0.25 and 0.5 μM; P < 0.05 family-wise error corrected (FWEc)). We reveal for the first time that peripheral markers of apoptotic susceptibility may correlate with brain metabolites, Glx and NAA, and regional brain volume in FES and controls, which is consistent with the neuroprogressive theories around the onset of the schizophrenia illness.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Clinical Institute of Neuroscience, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Radboud University Medical Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.|Radboud University, Nijmegen Institute for Scientist-Practitioners in Addiction, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Batalla
authors: Medical Image Core facility Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Centre de diagnòstic per la Imatge Clínic, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Bargalló
authors: Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Pathological Anatomy, Pharmacology and Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Gassó
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitari Mútua de Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Molina
authors: Magnetic Resonance Unit, Vall Hebron University Hospital IDI, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Pareto
authors: Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Pathological Anatomy, Pharmacology and Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Mas
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Clinical Institute of Neuroscience, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: J M
authors: JM
authors: Roca
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Barcelona, Spain.|Barcelona Clinic Schizophrenia Unit, Neuroscience Institute, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Bernardo
authors: Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Pathological Anatomy, Pharmacology and Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Lafuente
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Clinical Institute of Neuroscience, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Barcelona, Spain.|Department of Pathological Anatomy, Pharmacology and Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Barcelona Clinic Schizophrenia Unit, Neuroscience Institute, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Parellada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017209:Apoptosis; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000473:pathology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D005973:Glutamine / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D053148:Caspase 3