scholarly journals N-Acetylaspartate Reduction in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Following 8 weeks of Risperidone Treatment in First-Episode Drug-Naïve Schizophrenia Patients

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofen Zong ◽  
Maolin Hu ◽  
Zongchang Li ◽  
Hongbao Cao ◽  
Ying He ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Li ◽  
Xiaoduo Fan ◽  
Xiuxia Yuan ◽  
Lijuan Pang ◽  
Shaohua Hu ◽  
...  

Background: Butyric acid, a major short-chain fatty acid (SCFA), has an important role in the microbiota–gut–brain axis and brain function. This study investigated the role of butyric acid in treatment response in drug-naïve first episode schizophrenia.Methods: The study recruited 56 Chinese Han schizophrenia inpatients with normal body weight and 35 healthy controls. Serum levels of butyric acid were measured using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) analysis at baseline (for all participants) and 24 weeks after risperidone treatment (for patients). Clinical symptoms were measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for patients at both time points.Results: At baseline, there was no significant difference in serum levels of butyric acid between patients and healthy controls (p = 0.206). However, there was a significant increase in serum levels of butyric acid in schizophrenia patients after 24-week risperidone treatment (p = 0.030). The PANSS total and subscale scores were decreased significantly after 24-week risperidone treatment (p's < 0.001). There were positive associations between baseline serum levels of butyric acid and the reduction ratio of the PANSS total and subscale scores after controlling for age, sex, education, and duration of illness (p's < 0.05). Further, there was a positive association between the increase in serum levels of butyric acid and the reduction of the PANSS positive symptoms subscale scores (r = 0.38, p = 0.019) after controlling for potential confounding factors.Conclusions: Increased serum levels of butyric acid might be associated with a favorable treatment response in drug-naïve, first episode schizophrenia. The clinical implications of our findings were discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junjie Wang ◽  
Yingying Tang ◽  
Tianhong Zhang ◽  
Huiru Cui ◽  
Lihua Xu ◽  
...  

Alteredγ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate (Glu) levels, and an imbalance between GABAergic and glutamatergic neurotransmissions have been involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear how these abnormalities impact the onset and course of psychosis. In the present study, 21 drug-naïve subjects at ultrahigh risk for psychosis (UHR), 16 drug-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES), and 23 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. In vivo GABA and glutamate+glutamine (Glx) levels in the medial prefrontal cortex were measured using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Medial prefrontal GABA and Glx levels in FES patients were significantly lower than those in HC and UHR, respectively. GABA and Glx levels in UHR were comparable with those in HC. In each group, there was a positive correlation between GABA and Glx levels. Reduced medial prefrontal GABA and Glx levels thus may play an important role in the early stages of schizophrenia.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Li ◽  
Xiuxia Yuan ◽  
Lijuan Pang ◽  
Yu Miao ◽  
Shuying Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundWhile cardiometabolic adverse effects associated with antipsychotic treatment is an important clinical challenge, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here we investigated if changes in gut microbial composition associate with the metabolic disturbance induced by the risperidone treatment of schizophrenia.MethodsNinety-four first episode, drug naïve schizophrenia patients (SZ), and 100 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled at baseline. Six metabolic parameters (glucose, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), Total cholesterol (Total-C), Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides) and body mass index (BMI) were measured for all participants. Gut microbial composition (microbials) was determined by fecal samples using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Both the metabolic parameters and the gut microbiota were analyzed at baseline (all participants) and after 12 and 24 weeks of risperidone treatment (patients).ResultsThe glucose was significantly higher in SZ than HCs at baseline (p = 0.005). After 24-weeks treatment with risperidone, the levels of BMI, glucose, HOMA-IR, Total-C, LDL-C, HDL-C and triglyceride, were significant changed compared to baseline (p < 0.01). Six microbials showed significant changes in abundance after 24 weeks of risperidone treatment in SZ (p < 0.05), and four of these (Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Christensenellaceae, and Enterobacteriaceae) were associated with the changes in metabolic parameters (p < 0.05). At baseline, the abundance of the microbials Christensenellaceae and Enterobacteriaceae were significantly associated with changes in triglyceride, BMI and HOMA-IR after 24-week risperidone treatment.ConclusionsChanges in gut microbial composition induced by risperidone treatment may be a key pathway underlying the metabolic disturbances observed in SZ patients. While these findings warrant replication in independent samples, they provide insight into the role of microbiota in SZ treatment, which can form the basis for development of better SZ treatment strategies.


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