Widespread white-matter microstructure integrity reduction in first-episode schizophrenia patients after acute antipsychotic treatment

Linghui Meng, Kaiming Li, Wenbin Li, Yuan Xiao, Su Lui, John A. Sweeney, Qiyong Gong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Potential effects of initiating acute antipsychotic treatment on white matter (WM) microstructure in schizophrenia patients remain poorly characterized. Thirty-five drug-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients were scanned before and after six weeks of treatment with second-generation antipsychotic medications. Nineteen demographically matched healthy subjects were scanned twice over the same time interval. Tract-based spatial statistics was used to test for changes in WM microstructural integrity after treatment. Widespread fractional anisotropy (FA) decrease was found in patients after antipsychotic treatment in bilateral posterior corona radiata, anterior corona radiata, superior corona radiata and posterior thalamic radiation, left posterior limb of the internal capsule, and mid-body of the corpus callosum. These effects appeared to result primarily from decreased axial diffusivity. These findings suggest an effect on brain white matter from acute antipsychotic therapy in schizophrenia.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)238-244
Number of pages7
JournalSchizophrenia Research
Volume204
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2019

Keywords

  • Antipsychotics
  • Drug-naïve
  • First-episode schizophrenia
  • Microstructural integrity
  • Psychoradiology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Biological Psychiatry

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