Prenatal Exposure to Famine and Brain Morphology in Schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed the effects of nutritional deficiency during the first trimester of pregnancy on brain morphology in patients with schizophrenia.METHOD: Nine schizophrenic patients and nine healthy comparison subjects exposed during the first trimester of gestation to the Dutch Hunge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of psychiatry 2000-07, Vol.157 (7), p.1170-1172
Main Authors: Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E., Hoek, Hans W., Susser, Ezra, Brown, Alan S., Dingemans, Alexandra, Schnack, Hugo G., van Haren, Neeltje E.M., Pereira Ramos, Lino Moreira, Gispen-de Wied, Christine C., Kahn, René S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain - abnormalities
Brain - anatomy & histology
Famine
Female
Fetal exposure
Humans
Influences
Magnetic resonance imaging
Male
Malnutrition
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Netherlands
Netherlands - epidemiology
Nutrition Disorders - complications
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Trimester, First
Prenatal development
Prenatal exposure
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychoses
Risk Factors
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - diagnosis
Schizophrenia - epidemiology
Schizophrenia - etiology
Starvation - epidemiology
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Summary:OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed the effects of nutritional deficiency during the first trimester of pregnancy on brain morphology in patients with schizophrenia.METHOD: Nine schizophrenic patients and nine healthy comparison subjects exposed during the first trimester of gestation to the Dutch Hunger Winter were evaluated with magnetic resonance brain imaging, as were nine schizophrenic patients and nine healthy subjects who were not prenatally exposed to the famine.RESULTS: Prenatal famine exposure in patients with schizophrenia was associated with decreased intracranial volume. Prenatal Hunger Winter exposure alone was related to an increase in brain abnormalities, predominantly white matter hyperintensities.CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional deficiency during the first trimester of gestation resulted in an increase in clinical brain abnormalities and was associated with aberrant early brain development in patients with schizophrenia. Stunted brain development secondary to factors that affect brain growth during the first trimester of gestation may thus be a potential risk factor for developing schizophrenia.
ISSN:0002-953X
1535-7228
DOI:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.7.1170