Reduced posterior nasal cavity volume: A gender-specific neurodevelopmental abnormality in schizophrenia

Abstract

Objective-We previously reported that men with schizophrenia had reduced volumes of the posterior nasal cavity bilaterally. Since the nasal cavities develop in conjunction with both the palate and ventral forebrain, this could represent a simple marker of embryological dysmorphogenesis contributing to schizophrenia. The current study expands on this finding by examining a larger sample of both male and female patients and unaffected 1 st -degree relatives, to determine the gender distribution of this abnormality and the extent to which it may be genetically mediated.Method-A measurement of nasal volume and geometry was acquired by acoustic rhinometry for 85 schizophrenia patients, 25 unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia probands and 66 healthy comparison subjects.Results-Male patients had smaller posterior nasal volumes than both male control subjects and male relatives. However, female patients did not differ from either female controls or female family members. Unaffected first-degree relatives did not differ from same-sex control subjects. These findings persisted after covarying for height and smoking history, and were unrelated to clinical symptomatology or antipsychotic medication usage.Conclusion-Posterior nasal cavity volume decrement appears to be a specific developmental craniofacial abnormality that may reflect an early disruption in embryological development in males with schizophrenia. Although further study is needed, this may be a marker of a "second hit" that distinguishes genetically vulnerable men who go on to develop the illness from those who do not.

Depth of the olfactory sulcus: A marker of early embryonic disruption in schizophrenia?

“…We do not yet know whether a similar abnormality is present in individuals who have an increased genetic risk of illness, and previous evidence for midline developmental abnormalities in unaffected 1 st -degree relatives of schizophrenia patients has been inconsistent (Deutsch et al, 2000; Turetsky et al, 2003a, 2007). However, whether or not it is genetically mediated, this may be a simple vulnerability marker that implicates both a specific developmental process and a critical gestational time period in the etiology of schizophrenia.…”

Schizophrenia susceptibility and NMDA-receptor mediated signalling: an association study involving 32 tagSNPs of DAO, DAOA, PPP3CC, and DTNBP1genes

“…The influence of gender on schizophrenia has been related to oestrogens [25,26], neurodevelopment [27,28], and lateralization [29]. …”

Effects of the val(158)met catechol-o-methyltransferase gene polymorphism on olfactory processing in schizophrenia.

“…VCFS is characterized by cardiovascular and craniofacial dysmorphology, as well as olfactory impairment (Romanos, et al, 2011). Individuals with schizophrenia have similarly shown minor midline physical anomalies (e.g., increased palate height, cleft palate; O’Callaghan, Larkin, Kinsella, & Waddington, 1991), as well as abnormalities on structural and functional olfactory indices (Moberg et al, 2006; Moberg, et al, 2004; Turetsky, Crutchley, Walker, Gur, & Moberg, 2009; Turetsky et al, 2007; Turetsky et al, 2000). Notably, the face, olfactory structures, and forebrain develop embryologically in close association with each other (Carstens, 2002; Diewert, Lozanoff, & Choy, 1993), and these early morphogenetic processes are affected in a dose-related fashion to diminished 22q11 genes (Meechan, Maynard, Tucker, & LaMantia, 2011; Meechan, Tucker, Maynard, & LaMantia, 2009).…”