Patterns of regional gray matter loss at different stages of schizophrenia: A multisite, cross-sectional VBM study in first-episode and chronic illness.

BACKGROUND: Structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia have been repeatedly demonstrated in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, but it remains unclear whether these are static or progressive in nature. While longitudinal MRI studies have been traditionally used to assess the issue of progression of brain abnormalities in schizophrenia, information from cross-sectional neuroimaging studies directly comparing first-episode and chronic schizophrenia patients to healthy controls may also be useful to further clarify this issue. With the recent interest in multisite mega-analyses combining structural MRI data from multiple centers aiming at increased statistical power, the present multisite voxel-based morphometry (VBM) study was carried out to examine patterns of brain structural changes according to the different stages of illness and to ascertain which (if any) of such structural abnormalities would be specifically correlated to potential clinical moderators, including cumulative exposure to antipsychotics, age of onset, illness duration and overall illness severity. METHODS: We gathered a large sample of schizophrenia patients (161, being 99 chronic and 62 first-episode) and controls (151) from four previous morphometric MRI studies (1.5 T) carried out in the same geographical region of Brazil. Image processing and analyses were conducted using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM8) software with the diffeomorphic anatomical registration through exponentiated Lie algebra (DARTEL) algorithm. Group effects on regional gray matter (GM) volumes were investigated through whole-brain voxel-wise comparisons using General Linear Model Analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA), always including total GM volume, scan protocol, age and gender as nuisance variables. Finally, correlation analyses were performed between the aforementioned clinical moderators and regional and global brain volumes. RESULTS: First-episode schizophrenia subjects displayed subtle volumetric deficits relative to controls in a circumscribed brain regional network identified only in small volume-corrected (SVC) analyses (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected), including the insula, temporolimbic structures and striatum. Chronic schizophrenia patients, on the other hand, demonstrated an extensive pattern of regional GM volume decreases relative to controls, involving bilateral superior, inferior and orbital frontal cortices, right middle frontal cortex, bilateral anterior cingulate cortices, bilateral insulae and right superior and middle temporal cortices (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected over the whole brain). GM volumes in several of those brain regions were directly correlated with age of disease onset on SVC analyses for conjoined (first-episode and chronic) schizophrenia groups. There were also widespread foci of significant negative correlation between duration of illness and relative GM volumes, but such findings remained significant only for the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex after accounting for the influence of age of disease onset. Finally, significant negative correlations were detected between life-time cumulative exposure to antipsychotics and total GM and white matter volumes in schizophrenia patients, but no significant relationship was found between indices of antipsychotic usage and relative GM volume in any specific brain region. CONCLUSION: The above data indicate that brain changes associated with the diagnosis of schizophrenia are more widespread in chronic schizophrenia compared to first-episode patients. Our findings also suggest that relative GM volume deficits may be greater in (presumably more severe) cases with earlier age of onset, as well as varying as a function of illness duration in specific frontal brain regions. Finally, our results highlight the potentially complex effects of the continued use of antipsychotic drugs on structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia, as we found that cumulative doses of antipsychotics affected brain volumes globally rather than selectively on frontal-temporal regions

Qualidade de vida de familiares cuidadores do doente esquizofrênico Calidad de vida de familiares que cuidan de pacientes esquisofrenicos Life quality of family caregivers of schizophrenic patient

Objetivou-se verificar o conceito de qualidade de vida (QV) de familiares cuidadores de pacientes esquizofrênicos e identificar fatores que interferem em sua qualidade de vidas. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratório-descritiva, transversal, de campo com 52 familiares cuidadores que residiam com o paciente. Concluiu-se que os familiares definiram qualidade de vida como: "ter saúde, poder trabalhar e sustentar a família" (35); "ter saúde"(9); "ter saúde, ter bons hospitais e morar em um bairro melhor"(3); "ter saúde e continuar tratando deles" (2); "ter saúde e casa própria" (2);"ter dinheiro para tratar melhor dele"(1). Entre os fatores que interferiram em suas vidas o "deixar de ir a igreja"; "não sair com amigos"; "deixar de trabalhar " e "não ter mais tempo para si mesmo" foram os que sobressaíram.<br>Se apuntó a verificar el concepto de calidad de vida (CV) de familiares que cuidam de pacientes esquisofrenicos y identificar factores que interfieren en su calidad de vida. Así, una investigación exploratorio-descriptiva y transversal fue cumplida con 52 de conserjes familiares que moram con el paciente. Se concluye que los parientes definieron la calidad de vida como: "tener la salud, trabajar y sostener a la familia" (35); "tener la salud (9); "tener la salud, tener buenos hospitales y vivir en un barrio bueno" (3); "tener la salud y continuar cuidan de ellos" (2); "tener salud y casa propia" (2); "tener el dinero para tratar bien de él" (1). Entre los factores que interfirieron en sus vidas "no ir a la iglesia"; "no salir con los amigos"; "no salir para trabajar" y "no tener más tiempo por su cuidado" fueran los más evidentes.<br>It was aimed to verify the concept of life quality (LQ) of family caregivers of schizophrenic patient bearers and to identify the factors that interfere in their quality lives. For that an exploratory-descriptive, and traverse research was accomplished with 52 family caregivers that live with the patient. It was concluded that the relatives defined life quality as: "to have health, to work and support the family" (35); "to have health (9); "to have health, to have good hospitals and to live in a better neighborhood"(3); "to have health and to continue taking care of them" (2); "to have health and own house" (2); "to have money to get a better treatment" (1). Among the factors that interfered in their lifes "leaving of going the church"; "not to leave with friends"; "to leave of to work" and "not to have more time for himself" was the ones that stood out