Depressive symptom in the first-episode schizophrenic patients is related to the reduction of grey matter volume in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex - a pilot study

Abstract

Approximately 25-75% of patients with schizophrenia also present major depressive systems. Investigations into the pathological features associated with depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia would provide important information for the development of treatments for depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. In present study, we enrolled 17 first-episode schizophrenic patients with depressive symptoms and 17 well-matched first-episode schizophrenic patients without depressive symptoms and compared differences in their grey mater volume (GMV) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). We observed significantly decreased GMV in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) in the first episode schizophrenic patients with depressive symptoms compared to the first episode schizophrenic patients without depressive symptoms. However, we did not observe a correlation between the severity of the decreased GMV and the severity of depressive symptoms. Although convincing evidence supporting this postulation is lacking and requires further study for confirmation, to some extent, our findings provide indirect evidence for the suggestion that the reduction of the GMV in the sgACC may play a key role in the depressive symptoms in the first episode schizophrenic patients.