Cortical grey matter volume reduction in people with schizophrenia is associated with neuro-inflammation
Open Access
- 13 December 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Translational Psychiatry
- Vol. 6 (12), e982
- https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2016.238
Abstract
Cortical grey matter volume deficits and neuro-inflammation exist in patients with schizophrenia, although it is not clear whether elevated cytokines contribute to the cortical volume reduction. We quantified cortical and regional brain volumes in fixed postmortem brains from people with schizophrenia and matched controls using stereology. Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, IL-8 and SERPINA3 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were quantified in the contralateral fresh frozen orbitofrontal cortex. We found a small, but significant reduction in cortical grey matter (1.3%; F(1,85)=4.478, P=0.037) and superior frontal gyrus (6.5%; F(1,80)=5.700, P=0.019) volumes in individuals with schizophrenia compared with controls. Significantly reduced cortical grey matter (9.2%; F(1,24)=8.272, P=0.008) and superior frontal gyrus (13.9%; F(1,20)=5.374, P=0.031) volumes were found in cases with schizophrenia and ‘high inflammation’ status relative to schizophrenia cases with ‘low inflammation’ status in the prefrontal cortex. The expression of inflammatory mRNAs in the orbitofrontal cortex was significantly correlated with those in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (all r>0.417, all Pr<−0.362, all P<0.05). The results suggest that the reduction in cortical grey matter volume in people with schizophrenia is exaggerated in those who have high expression of inflammatory cytokines. Further, antipsychotic medication intake does not appear to ameliorate the reduction in brain volume.This publication has 74 references indexed in Scilit:
- Human frontal lobes are not relatively largeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013
- Increased inflammatory markers identified in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of individuals with schizophreniaMolecular Psychiatry, 2012
- Interleukin-6, a Major Cytokine in the Central Nervous SystemInternational Journal of Biological Sciences, 2012
- Statistical adjustments for brain size in volumetric neuroimaging studies: Some practical implications in methodsPsychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 2011
- Long-term Antipsychotic Treatment and Brain VolumesArchives of General Psychiatry, 2011
- Selection of Reference Gene Expression in a Schizophrenia Brain CohortAustralian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2010
- Cytokines and Perinatal Brain DamageClinics in Perinatology, 2008
- An Australian Brain Bank: a critical investment with a high return!Cell and Tissue Banking, 2008
- Molecular Evidence for Increased Expression of Genes Related to Immune and Chaperone Function in the Prefrontal Cortex in SchizophreniaBiological Psychiatry, 2007
- Inflammation-related genes up-regulated in schizophrenia brainsBMC Psychiatry, 2007