Pattern of long-term weight and metabolic changes after a first episode of psychosis: Results from a 10-year prospective follow-up of the PAFIP program for early intervention in psychosis cohort.

BACKGROUND: People with psychosis are at higher risk of cardiovascular events, partly explained by a higher predisposition to gain weight. This has been observed in studies on individuals with a first-episode psychosis (FEP) at short and long term (mainly up to 1 year) and transversally at longer term in people with chronic schizophrenia. However, there is scarcity of data regarding longer-term (above 3-year follow-up) weight progression in FEP from longitudinal studies. The aim of this study is to evaluate the longer-term (10 years) progression of weight changes and related metabolic disturbances in people with FEP. METHODS: Two hundred and nine people with FEP and 57 healthy participants (controls) were evaluated at study entry and prospectively at 10-year follow-up. Anthropometric, clinical, and sociodemographic data were collected. RESULTS: People with FEP presented a significant and rapid increase in mean body weight during the first year of treatment, followed by less pronounced but sustained weight gain over the study period (Δ15.2 kg; SD 12.3 kg). This early increment in weight predicted longer-term changes, which were significantly greater than in healthy controls (Δ2.9 kg; SD 7.3 kg). Weight gain correlated with alterations in lipid and glycemic variables, leading to clinical repercussion such as increments in the rates of obesity and metabolic disturbances. Sex differences were observed, with women presenting higher increments in body mass index than men. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that the first year after initiating antipsychotic treatment is the critical one for weight gain in psychosis. Besides, it provides evidence that weight gain keep progressing even in the longer term (10 years), causing relevant metabolic disturbances.

Stopping cannabis use benefits outcome in psychosis: findings from 10-year follow-up study in the PAFIP-cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the long-term (up to 10 years) patterns related to cannabis use in a sample of patients with first episode of psychosis (FEP) and the effect that consumption might have on clinical, functioning, and neurocognition at long-term. METHODS: Cannabis use was described in 209 FEP patients. Patients were divided into three groups according to cannabis use: persistent users, ex-users, and never-users. Groups were longitudinally (baseline and 10-year follow-up) compared on clinical, functional, and cognitive variables. RESULTS: Clinical differences at 10-year follow-up were observed between persistent cannabis users and the other two groups (ex-users and never-users), showing persistent users more severe symptoms (BPRS: x2  = 15.583, P ≤ 0.001; SAPS: x2  = 12.386, P = 0.002) and poorer functionality (DAS: x2  = 6.067, P = 0.048; GAF: x2  = 6.635, P = 0.033). Patients who stopped cannabis use prior to the reassessment showed a similar pattern to those who had never consumed. CONCLUSION: The use of cannabis could negatively affect the evolution of the psychotic disorder. Perhaps the negative effects caused by cannabis use could be reversed with the cessation of consumption. It is necessary to make an effort in the intervention toward an early withdrawal from the use of cannabis, since this could play an important role in the prognosis of the disease.

No progression of the alterations in the cortical thickness of individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder: a three-year longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study of first-episode patients.

BACKGROUND: Cortical thickness measurement offers an index of brain development processes. In healthy individuals, cortical thickness is reduced with increasing age and is related to cognitive decline. Cortical thinning has been reported in schizophrenia. Whether cortical thickness changes differently over time in patients and its impact on outcome remain unanswered. METHOD: Data were examined from 109 patients and 76 healthy controls drawn from the Santander Longitudinal Study of first-episode schizophrenia for whom adequate structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were available (n = 555 scans). Clinical and cognitive assessments and MRIs were acquired at three regular time points during a 3-year follow-up period. We investigated likely progressive cortical thickness changes in schizophrenia during the first 3 years after initiating antipsychotic treatment. The effects of cortical thickness changes on cognitive and clinical variables were also examined along with the impact of potential confounding factors. RESULTS: There were significant diagnoses × scan time interaction main effects for total cortical thickness (F 1,309.1 = 4.60, p = 0.033) and frontal cortical thickness (F 1,310.6 = 5.30, p = 0.022), reflecting a lesser thinning over time in patients. Clinical and cognitive outcome was not associated with progressive cortical changes during the early years of the illness. CONCLUSIONS: Cortical thickness abnormalities do not unswervingly progress, at least throughout the first years of the illness. Previous studies have suggested that modifiable factors may partly account for cortical thickness abnormalities. Therefore, the importance of implementing practical actions that may modify those factors and improve them over the course of the illness should be highlighted.

Three-year longitudinal population-based volumetric MRI study in first-episode schizophrenia spectrum patients.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder associated with structural brain abnormalities already present at the onset of the illness. Whether these brain abnormalities might progress over time is still under debate. METHOD: The aim of this study was to investigate likely progressive brain volume changes in schizophrenia during the first 3 years after initiating antipsychotic treatment. The study included 109 patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder and a control group of 76 healthy subjects. Subjects received detailed clinical and cognitive assessment and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at regular time points during a 3-year follow-up period. The effects of brain changes on cognitive and clinical variables were examined along with the impact of potential confounding factors. RESULTS: Overall, patients and healthy controls exhibited a similar pattern of brain volume changes. However, patients showed a significant lower progressive decrease in the volume of the caudate nucleus than control subjects (F 1,307.2 = 2.12, p = 0.035), with healthy subjects showing a greater reduction than patients during the follow-up period. Clinical and cognitive outcomes were not associated with progressive brain volume changes during the early years of the illness. CONCLUSIONS: Brain volume abnormalities that have been consistently observed at the onset of non-affective psychosis may not inevitably progress, at least over the first years of the illness. Taking together with clinical and cognitive longitudinal data, our findings, showing a lack of brain deterioration in a substantial number of individuals, suggest a less pessimistic and more reassuring perception of the illness.