Regional brain metabolism in schizophrenia: An FDG-PET study

Abstract

Background:Recent technological advances have established beyond any doubt the biological nature of schizophrenia. Functional neuroimaging using FDG-PET forms an important technique in understanding the biological underpinnings of psychopathology of schizophrenia.Methods:Eighteen male patients diagnosed as having schizophrenia and having active psychosis as determined by PANSS were subjected to FDG-PET scanning under resting conditions. The glucose uptake in selected regions of interest was studied across the spectrum of schizophrenia.Results:Chronicity and severity of illness did not influence cerebral glucose metabolism. Participants with negative schizophrenia had significantly decreased metabolism in all regions of the brain as compared to the positive type. The positive syndrome of schizophrenia was associated with significantly increased glucose metabolism in the medial temporal regions, basal ganglia and left thalamic regions. Hypometabolism was also noted in the cerebellum.Conclusion:While a number of brain areas can be identified as potential causative regions and hypotheses regarding putative mechanisms can be formed, the considerable heterogeneity of schizophrenia poses a great challenge in the precise delineation of the disease process.

Methamphetamine dependence with and without psychotic symptoms: A multi-modal brain imaging study

“…An increase in relative regional glucose metabolism in the putamen and pallidum in the MAP group when compared to the MAA group was shown in this study, and is in line with work by Seethalakshmi et al (2006) , who showed increased glucose metabolism in the basal ganglia in individuals with active psychosis in schizophrenia. These results therefore seem to be specific to the psychotic group and include regions that are increasingly present in recent work on schizophrenia.…”

“…Due to the considerable diversity of symptoms in schizophrenia, it is widely accepted that impairments are not localized to specific regions, but rather involve the disruption of several regions. Studies looking at active psychosis in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia showed decreased cerebral glucose metabolism in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) ( Koppel et al, 2014 ), and increases in medial temporal regions, basal ganglia, and left thalamic regions, with decreases in the cerebellum ( Seethalakshmi et al, 2006 ).…”

Are the effects of cannabis dependence on glucose metabolism similar to schizophrenia? An FDG PET understanding

“…Glucose uptake patterns are reflective of neuronal functioning. Studies[ 20 21 ] have established that individuals with schizophrenia demonstrate specific patterns that can vary with symptoms profiles and chronicity of illness, in other words, the phenomenology of the illness affects glucose uptake. Similarly, studies have observed changes in the orbitofrontal cortex, putamen, and precuneus[ 22 ] and cerebellum[ 23 ] in chronic cannabis users.…”

Roles of facilitative glucose transporter GLUT1 in [18F]FDG positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of human diseases

“…It is considered that significant heterogeneity in the patterns of schizophrenia make investigations of its origin and mechanisms a major challenge [218]. For example, one study in unmedicated patients showed enhanced glucose metabolism in cerebral white matter, specifically in the frontal white matter, corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus and white matter core of the temporal lobe.…”