Progressive changes of white matter integrity in schizophrenia revealed by diffusion tensor imaging

Mori, Takeyuki; Ohnishi, Takashi; Hashimoto, Ryota; Nemoto, Kiyotaka; Moriguchi, Yoshiya; Noguchi, Hiroko; Nakabayashi, Tetsuo; Hori, Hiroaki; Harada, Seichi; Saitoh, Osamu; Matsuda, Hiroshi; Kunugi, Hiroshi

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.09.004

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 154, Issue 2 , Pages 133-145, 28 February 2007

Progressive changes of white matter integrity in schizophrenia revealed by diffusion tensor imaging

Takeyuki Mori
- Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Saitama Medical School Hospital. 38 Morohongo Moroyama-machi, Iruma-gun, Saitama, 350-0495, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
- Tel: +81 49 276 1111.
Takashi Ohnishi
- Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Corresponding author. Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan. Tel.: +81 42 341 2711; fax: +81 42 346 1790.
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
Ryota Hashimoto
- Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- The Osaka-Hamamatsu Joint Research Center For Child Mental Development, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine
- Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
- D3, 2-2, Yamadaoka, Suita City, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan. Tel.: +81 6 6879 3074.
Kiyotaka Nemoto
- Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
Yoshiya Moriguchi
- Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
Hiroko Noguchi
- Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
Tetsuo Nakabayashi
- Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
Hiroaki Hori
- Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
Seichi Harada
- Department of Psychiatry, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
Osamu Saitoh
- Department of Psychiatry, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
Hiroshi Matsuda
- Department of Radiology, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous, and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Saitama Medical School Hospital. 38 Morohongo Moroyama-machi, Iruma-gun, Saitama, 350-0495, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.
- Tel: +81 49 276 1111.
Hiroshi Kunugi
- Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa Higashi, Kodaira City, Tokyo, 187-8551, Japan
- Tel.: +81 42 341 2711.

Received 16 March 2006; received in revised form 6 July 2006; accepted 11 September 2006.

Abstract

Recent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) have suggested reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) in the white matter (WM) of the brain in patients with schizophrenia. We tried to examine whether such reduction in FA exists and whether such changes in FA progress in an age-dependent manner in a Japanese sample of chronic schizophrenia. FA values were compared between 42 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 42 controls matched for age and gender, by using DTI with voxel-by-voxel and region-of-interest analyses. Correlations of FA values with age and duration of illness were examined. Patients with schizophrenia showed lower FA values, compared to controls, in the widespread WM areas including the uncinate fasciculi and cingulum bundles. A significant group-by-age interaction was found for FA in the WM, i.e., age-related reduction of FA was more pronounced in schizophrenics than in controls. A significant negative correlation between FA and duration of illness was also found in the WM. Our data confirmed decreased FA in schizophrenics, compared to controls in the widespread WM areas. Such decreased FA values in schizophrenia might be attributable, at least in part, to progressive changes after the onset of the illness.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), DTI, Fractional anisotropy (FA), Aging