Reduction of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) in association with relapse in early-stage psychosis: a 7-Tesla MRS study

Understanding the biological underpinning of relapse could improve the outcomes of patients with psychosis. Relapse is elicited by multiple reasons/triggers, but the consequence frequently accompanies deteriorations of brain function, leading to poor prognosis. Structural brain imaging studies have...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NPJ schizophrenia 2024-03, Vol.10 (1), p.29-5, Article 29
Main Authors: Mihaljevic, Marina, Chang, Yu-Ho, Witmer, Ashley M., Coughlin, Jennifer M., Schretlen, David J., Barker, Peter B., Yang, Kun, Sawa, Akira
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/340
692/699/476/1761
Cognitive Psychology
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Neurology
Neurosciences
Psychiatry
Psychosis
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Summary:Understanding the biological underpinning of relapse could improve the outcomes of patients with psychosis. Relapse is elicited by multiple reasons/triggers, but the consequence frequently accompanies deteriorations of brain function, leading to poor prognosis. Structural brain imaging studies have recently been pioneered to address this question, but a lack of molecular investigations is a knowledge gap. Following a criterion used for recent publications by others, we defined the experiences of relapse by hospitalization(s) due to psychotic exacerbation. We hypothesized that relapse-associated molecules might be underscored from the neurometabolites whose levels have been different between overall patients with early-stage psychosis and healthy subjects in our previous report. In the present study, we observed a significant decrease in the levels of N-acetyl aspartate in the anterior cingulate cortex and thalamus in patients who experienced relapse compared to patients who did not. Altogether, decreased N-acetyl aspartate levels may indicate relapse-associated deterioration of neuronal networks in patients.
ISSN:2754-6993
2754-6993
2334-265X
DOI:10.1038/s41537-024-00451-7