Journal
SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH
Volume 90, Issue 1-3, Pages 266-273Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2006.09.033
Keywords
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; magnetic resonance imaging; pituitary; cortisol; antipsychotics; schizophrenia
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Funding
- NCATS NIH HHS [UL1 TR000005] Funding Source: Medline
- NCRR NIH HHS [M01 RR00056] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMH NIH HHS [MH45156] Funding Source: Medline
- PHS HHS [R01 64023] Funding Source: Medline
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Abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) have been implicated in psychosis. To our knowledge, no prior study has measured pituitary volume in a neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic population. Herein, we present data exploring the volumetric differences in a sample of antipsychotic-naive patients with a DSM-fV diagnosis of schizophrenia versus appropriately matched healthy controls. Pituitary volumes were measured in 51 patients with schizophrenia (36 males, 15 females, mean age +/- S.D.: 25.2 +/- 7.4 years) and 55 healthy controls (30 males, 25 females; mean age +/- S.D.: 25.2 +/- 6.6 years) Measurements were conducted on 1.5 mm thick T1-weighted coronal images from a 1.5T scanner by two trained raters. Patients with schizophrenia had significantly smaller pituitary volumes than healthy control subjects (mean volume +/- S.D. = 0.58 +/- 0.14 cm(3) and 0.66 +/- 0.17 cm(3) respectively; ANCOVA (using intracranial volume, gender and age as covariates), F=6.81, df = 1, 101;p=0.01). These findings provide new evidence of a smaller pituitary volume in neuroleptic-naive patients with schizophrenia. The observed alterations in pituitary volume are consistent with neuroendocrine studies that have reported abnormalities in the HPA axis in psychosis. Similar volume reductions have been seen in other neuropsychiatric populations and may cut across diagnostic boundaries. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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