Skip to Content
MilliporeSigma
  • Atypical antipsychotic drug treatment for 6 months restores N-acetylaspartate in left prefrontal cortex and left thalamus of first-episode patients with early onset schizophrenia: A magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

Atypical antipsychotic drug treatment for 6 months restores N-acetylaspartate in left prefrontal cortex and left thalamus of first-episode patients with early onset schizophrenia: A magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

Psychiatry research (2014-05-17)
Jing-Li Gan, Zheng-Xiang Cheng, Hui-Feng Duan, Jia-Ming Yang, Xi-Quan Zhu, Cun-You Gao
ABSTRACT

Early onset schizophrenia (EOS) is often associated with poorer outcomes, including lack of school education, higher risk of mental disability and resistance to treatment. But the knowledge of the neurobiological mechanism of EOS is limited. Here, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we investigated the possible neurochemical abnormalities in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and thalamus of first-episode drug-naïve patients with EOS, and followed up the effects of atypical antipsychotic treatment for 6 months on neurochemical metabolites and clinical symptoms. We measured the ratios of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho) to creatine (Cr) in 41 adolescents with first episode of EOS and in 28 healthy controls matched for age, gender, and years of education. The EOS patients presented with abnormally low NAA/Cr values in the left PFC and left thalamus with a reduced tendency in the right PFC compared with healthy controls. No significant differences were detected between groups for Cho/Cr in PFC and thalamus in any hemisphere. After atypical antipsychotic treatment for 6 months, the reduced NAA/Cr in the left PFC and left thalamus in EOS patients was elevated to the normal level in healthy controls, without any alteration in Cho/Cr. We also found that there was no significant correlation between the neurochemical metabolite ratios in the PFC and thalamus in patients with EOS, and clinical characteristics. Our results suggest that there was neurochemical metabolite abnormalities in PFC and thalamus in EOS patients, atypical antipsychotic treatment can effectively relieve the symptoms and restore the reduced NAA in PFC and thalamus.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Supelco
L-Aspartic acid, certified reference material, TraceCERT®, Manufactured by: Sigma-Aldrich Production GmbH, Switzerland
Supelco
L-Aspartic acid, Pharmaceutical Secondary Standard; Certified Reference Material
Sigma-Aldrich
N-Acetyl-L-aspartic acid, ≥99.0% (T)
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Aspartic acid, BioUltra, ≥99.5% (T)
SAFC
L-Aspartic acid
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Aspartic acid, from non-animal source, meets EP, USP testing specifications, suitable for cell culture, 98.5-101.0%
Sigma-Aldrich
DL-Aspartic acid, ≥99% (TLC)
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Aspartic acid, reagent grade, ≥98% (HPLC)
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Aspartic acid, BioXtra, ≥99% (HPLC)
Aspartic acid, European Pharmacopoeia (EP) Reference Standard
Supelco
Choline chloride, Pharmaceutical Secondary Standard; Certified Reference Material
Sigma-Aldrich
Choline chloride, BioUltra, ≥99.0% (AT)
Sigma-Aldrich
Creatine, anhydrous
Sigma-Aldrich
L-Aspartic acid potassium salt, ≥98% (HPLC)
Sigma-Aldrich
Choline chloride, ≥98%
Sigma-Aldrich
Choline chloride, ≥99%
Sigma-Aldrich
Choline chloride, BioReagent, suitable for cell culture, suitable for insect cell culture, ≥98%
USP
Choline chloride, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Reference Standard