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A. Iannitelli, L. Aloe, C. Zucca, C. Di Biasi, G.F. Gualdi, G. Bersani - Vol. 6, Dicembre 2000, num.4

Testo Immagini Bibliografia Summary Riassunto Indice

Anomalie neuroevolutive cerebrali studiate con Risonanza Magnetica Nucleare e livelli plasmatici di
Nerve Growth Factor in età adulta in pazienti con schizofrenia
Brain neurodevelopmental abnormalities studied by means of magnetic resonance imaging and NGF blood levels in adult schizophrenic patients

Introduction
To test the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia, we measured blood levels of NGF, a neurotrophin involved in early stages of brain development, in adult schizophrenic subjects and sought possible correlations between such blood levels and the size of brain structures frequently involved in schizophrenia and controlled by NGF, as assessed through MRI. Furthermore, to test the hypothesis that early onset is linked with neurodevelopmental anomalies caused by reduced NGF levels, we investigated possible correlations between NGF blood levels and age of onset.

Materials and Methods
The sample consisted of 24 DSM-IV schizophrenic male inpatients, hospitalized at the III Psychiatric Clinic of the "La Sapienza" University of Rome. Blood samples were withdrawn for NGF assay and MRI as performed on all subjects to measure the size of the corpus callosum, prefrontal cortex, cerebellum, temporal lobe, septum pellucidum, amygdala, hippocampus, superior temporal gyrus, and basal ganglia. Such brain areas were subjected to linear measurement to identify indexes of possible atrophy.

Results
Mean NGF blood level was 14.91 pg/ml. A significant positive correlation was found between mean NGF blood levels and two diameters of the cauda cerebellum: the length of the superior cerebellar vermis (p=.0249) and posterior cerebellar vermis (p=.0082). No correlation was found between NGF blood levels and other brain indexes, nor between blood NGF levels and onset of disease (p=.39).

Conclusions
To our knowledge, this is the first study on the relations between brain morphology and blood NGF levels in schizophrenia. Our results show a correlation between blood NGF levels and a particular brain area, the cerebellar vermis, which is supposed to be involved in schizophrenia. The interpretation of the origin of brain alterations in relation to the activity of neurotrophins contributes to test the hypothesis of altered neurodevelopment in schizophrenia, by means of combining structural with neurochemical and functional data.