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Background: Negative symptoms (NS) represent a detrimental symptomatic domain in schizophrenia affecting social and occupational outcomes., Aims: We aimed to identify factors from the baseline visit (V1) - with a mean illness duration of 0.47 years (SD = 0.45) - that predict the magnitude of NS at the follow-up visit (V3), occurring 4.4 years later (mean +/- 0.45)., Method: Using longitudinal data from 77 first-episode schizophrenia spectrum patients, we analysed eight predictors of NS severity at V3: (1) the age at disease onset, (2) age at V1, (3) sex, (4) diagnosis, (5) NS severity at V1, (6) the dose of antipsychotic medication at V3, (7) hospitalisation days before V1 and; (8) the duration of untreated psychosis /DUP/). Secondly, using a multiple linear regression model, we studied the longitudinal relationship between such identified predictors and NS severity at V3 using a multiple linear regression model., Results: DUP (Pearson's r = 0.37, p = 0.001) and NS severity at V1 (Pearson's r = 0.49, p < 0.001) survived correction for multiple comparisons. The logarithmic-like relationship between DUP and NS was responsible for the initial stunning incremental contribution of DUP to the severity of NS. For DUP < 6 months, with the sharpest DUP/NS correlation, prolonging DUP by five days resulted in a measurable one-point increase in the 6-item negative symptoms PANSS domain assessed 4.9 (+/- 0.6) years after the illness onset. Prolongation of DUP to 14.7 days doubled this NS gain, whereas 39 days longer DUP tripled NS increase., Conclusion: The results suggest the petrification of NS during the early stages of the schizophrenia spectrum and a crucial dependence of this symptom domain on DUP. These findings are clinically significant and highlight the need for primary preventive actions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Schizophrenia is frequently associated with obesity, which is linked with neurostructural alterations. Yet, we do not understand how the brain correlates of obesity map onto the brain changes in schizophrenia. We obtained MRI-derived brain cortical and subcortical measures and body mass index (BMI) from 1260 individuals with schizophrenia and 1761 controls from 12 independent research sites within the ENIGMA-Schizophrenia Working Group. We jointly modeled the statistical effects of schizophrenia and BMI using mixed effects. BMI was additively associated with structure of many of the same brain regions as schizophrenia, but the cortical and subcortical alterations in schizophrenia were more widespread and pronounced. Both BMI and schizophrenia were primarily associated with changes in cortical thickness, with fewer correlates in surface area. While, BMI was negatively associated with cortical thickness, the significant associations between BMI and surface area or subcortical volumes were positive. Lastly, the brain correlates of obesity were replicated among large studies and closely resembled neurostructural changes in major depressive disorders. We confirmed widespread associations between BMI and brain structure in individuals with schizophrenia. People with both obesity and schizophrenia showed more pronounced brain alterations than people with only one of these conditions. Obesity appears to be a relevant factor which could account for heterogeneity of brain imaging findings and for differences in brain imaging outcomes among people with schizophrenia., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Purpose: To assess white matter changes after the first episode of schizophrenia by using fixel-based analysis (FBA). Methods: Diffusion weighted MR images were used to prospectively compare white matter microstructure between subjects after the first episode of schizophrenia (n = 16) and healthy controls (n = 22). The subjects were examined on a 3 Tesla MRI system equipped with a 64-channel head coil. FBA was performed using MRtrix software package (version 3.0.1). Results: A limited area of fibre density decrease was found in the anterior commissure. No fixels of fibre cross-section changes were found. For combined metric of fibre density and cross-section only one statistically significant fixel was found in the right frontal white matter. Conclusion: Using FBA, only a limited area of white matter microstructure corruption was found after the first episode of schizophrenia. Changes were located mainly in the anterior commissure. Compared to other published studies using FBA, the extent of changes is distinctly smaller which can be among other causes subjected to earlier stages of the illness of subjects included in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To asses cerebral cortical thickness and area changes in the earliest stage of schizophrenia. Methods: Magnetic resonance was used to prospectively compare cerebral cortex thickness and surface area between subjects after the first episode of schizophrenia (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 19). The subjects were examined on a 3 Tesla MRI system equipped with a 64-channel head coil. Surface-based morphometry was performed on 3D T1- and T2-weighted data by using Freesurfer software package (ver. 7.1.0). Results: No statistically significantly different clusters of cerebral cortical surface / thickness were found between both groups of subjects. Conclusion: Contrary to the observations published by other authors including large multicentric studies, no statistically significant differences in cerebral cortical thickness or area were found in the earliest stage of schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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