1H-MRS study of prefrontal lobe and thalamus in male patients with schizophrenia / 中国医学影像技术

ABSTRACT

Objective To identify the metabolite levels in prefrontal lobe and thalamus in patients of schizophrenia with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Methods Twenty-six schizophrenics with medicine-free for at least 7 d and 28 normal controls were assessed in this study. All subjects underwent examination of multi-voxel 1H-MRS on prefrontal lobe and thalamus within 24 h. The NAA, Cho and Cr were measured and the ratios of NAA/Cr, Cho/Cr and NAA/(Cho+Cr) were determined. Results Compared with the controls, the NAA/Cr ratio of schizophrenics was significantly lower in left prefrontal lobe and bilateral thalamus (all P＜0.05). No statistical difference of NAA/(Cho+Cr) ratio and the Cho/Cr ratio was found between two groups. Conclusion Abnormalities in neuronal function and/or integrity are present at left prefrontal lobe and bilateral thalamus simultaneously in schizophrenics.