Decreased basal ganglia and thalamic iron in early psychotic spectrum disorders are associated with increased psychotic and schizotypal symptoms

Iron deficits have been reported as a risk factor for psychotic spectrum disorders (PSD). However, examinations of brain iron in PSD remain limited. The current study employed quantitative MRI to examine iron content in several iron-rich subcortical structures in 49 young adult individuals with PSD (15 schizophrenia, 17 schizoaffective disorder, and 17 bipolar disorder with psychotic features) compared with 35 age-matched healthy controls (HC). A parametric approach based on a two-pool magnetization transfer model was applied to estimate longitudinal relaxation rate (R-1), which reflects both iron and myelin, and macromolecular proton fraction (MPF), which is specific to myelin. To describe iron content, a synthetic effective transverse relaxation rate (R-2*) was modeled using a linear fitting of R-1 and MPF. PSD patients compared to HC showed significantly reduced R-1 and synthetic R-2* across examined regions including the pallidum, ventral diencephalon, thalamus, and putamen areas. This finding was primarily driven by decreases in the subgroup with schizophrenia, followed by schizoaffective disorder. No significant group differences were noted for MPF between PSD and HC while for regional volume, significant reductions in patients were only observed in bilateral caudate, suggesting that R-1 and synthetic R-2* reductions in schizophrenia and schizoaffective patients likely reflect iron deficits that either occur independently or precede structural and myelin changes. Subcortical R-1 and synthetic R-2* were also found to be inversely related to positive symptoms within the PSD group and to schizotypal traits across the whole sample. These findings that decreased iron in subcortical regions are associated with PSD risk and symptomatology suggest that brain iron deficiencies may play a role in PSD pathology and warrant further study.

Automated summary

This study used quantitative MRI to compare iron content in several iron-rich subcortical structures between individuals with PSD and healthy controls. The results showed significantly reduced iron content in PSD patients compared to controls, particularly in patients with schizophrenia. These findings suggest that decreased iron in subcortical regions is associated with PSD risk and symptomatology, and may play a role in the pathology of PSD.