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Guo L, Ma J, Cai M, Zhang M, Xu Q, Wang H, Zhang Y, Yao J, Sun Z, Chen Y, Xue H, Zhang Y, Wang S, Xue K, Zhu D, Liu F. Transcriptional signatures of the whole-brain voxel-wise resting-state functional network centrality alterations in schizophrenia. SCHIZOPHRENIA (HEIDELBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 9:87. [PMID: 38104130 PMCID: PMC10725456 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-023-00422-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies have revealed that patients with schizophrenia exhibit disrupted resting-state functional connectivity. However, the inconsistent findings across these studies have hindered our comprehensive understanding of the functional connectivity changes associated with schizophrenia, and the molecular mechanisms associated with these alterations remain largely unclear. A quantitative meta-analysis was first conducted on 21 datasets, involving 1057 patients and 1186 healthy controls, to examine disrupted resting-state functional connectivity in schizophrenia, as measured by whole-brain voxel-wise functional network centrality (FNC). Subsequently, partial least squares regression analysis was employed to investigate the relationship between FNC changes and gene expression profiles obtained from the Allen Human Brain Atlas database. Finally, gene enrichment analysis was performed to unveil the biological significance of the altered FNC-related genes. Compared with healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia show consistently increased FNC in the right inferior parietal cortex extending to the supramarginal gyrus, angular gyrus, bilateral medial prefrontal cortex, and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while decreased FNC in the bilateral insula, bilateral postcentral gyrus, and right inferior temporal gyrus. Meta-regression analysis revealed that increased FNC in the right inferior parietal cortex was positively correlated with clinical score. In addition, these observed functional connectivity changes were found to be spatially associated with the brain-wide expression of specific genes, which were enriched in diverse biological pathways and cell types. These findings highlight the aberrant functional connectivity observed in schizophrenia and its potential molecular underpinnings, providing valuable insights into the neuropathology of dysconnectivity associated with this disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lining Guo
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Juanwei Ma
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Mengjing Cai
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Minghui Zhang
- Department of Ultrasound, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital Airport Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Qiang Xu
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - He Wang
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Yijing Zhang
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Jia Yao
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Zuhao Sun
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Yayuan Chen
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Hui Xue
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Yujie Zhang
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Shaoying Wang
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Kaizhong Xue
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Brain Informatics, Beijing, China.
| | - Dan Zhu
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital Airport Hospital, Tianjin, China.
| | - Feng Liu
- Department of Radiology and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
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Kong M, Chen T, Gao S, Ni S, Ming Y, Chai X, Ling C, Xu X. Abnormal network homogeneity of default-mode network and its relationships with clinical symptoms in antipsychotic-naïve first-diagnosis schizophrenia. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:921547. [PMID: 35968384 PMCID: PMC9369006 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.921547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder affecting around 0.5–1% of the global population. A few studies have shown the functional disconnection in the default-mode network (DMN) of schizophrenia patients. However, the findings remain discrepant. In the current study, we compared the intrinsic network organization of DMN of 57 first-diagnosis drug-naïve schizophrenia patients with 50 healthy controls (HCs) using a homogeneity network (NH) and explored the relationships of DMN with clinical characteristics of schizophrenia patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis and support vector machine (SVM) analysis were applied to calculate the accuracy of distinguishing schizophrenia patients from HCs. Our results showed that the NH values of patients were significantly higher in the left superior medial frontal gyrus (SMFG) and right cerebellum Crus I/Crus II and significantly lower in the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) compared to those of HCs. Additionally, negative correlations were shown between aberrant NH values in the right cerebellum Crus I/Crus II and general psychopathology scores, between NH values in the left SMFG and negative symptom scores, and between the NH values in the right ITG and speed of processing. Also, patients’ age and the NH values in the right cerebellum Crus I/Crus II and the right ITG were the predictors of performance in the social cognition test. ROC curves analysis and SVM analysis showed that a combination of NH values in the left SMFG, right ITG, and right cerebellum Crus I/Crus II could distinguish schizophrenia patients from HCs with high accuracy. The results emphasized the vital role of DMN in the neuropathological mechanisms underlying schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingjun Kong
- Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Tian Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Shuzhan Gao
- Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Sulin Ni
- Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Yidan Ming
- Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Xintong Chai
- Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Chenxi Ling
- Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Xijia Xu
- Department of Psychiatry, the Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing, China
- Department of Psychiatry, Nanjing Brain Hospital, Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Xijia Xu,
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Peng Y, Zhang S, Zhou Y, Song Y, Yang G, Hao K, Yang Y, Li W, Lv L, Zhang Y. Abnormal functional connectivity based on nodes of the default mode network in first-episode drug-naive early-onset schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res 2021; 295:113578. [PMID: 33243520 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is considered a connectivity disorder. Further, the functional connectivity (FC) of the default-mode network (DMN) has gained the interest of researchers. However, few studies have been conducted on the abnormal connectivity of DMN in early-onset schizophrenia (EOS). In this study, the key brain regions of the DMN were used as seed regions to analyze the FC of the whole brain in EOS. When the seed was located in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), patients with EOS exhibited decreased FC between mPFC and other brain regions compared with healthy controls (voxel P value < 0.001, cluster P value < 0.05, Gaussian random field corrected). When the seed was located in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), the FC between PCC and other brain regions was enhanced and weakened (voxel P value < 0.001, cluster P value < 0.05, Gaussian random field corrected), and PCC connectivity with the right parahippocampal gyrus was associated with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale scores for the general score (r = -0.315, P = 0.02). The results showed that the FC within the DMN and that between DMN and visual networks were abnormal, suggesting that the DMN might be involved in the pathogenesis of EOS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Peng
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; Henan Key Lab of Biological Psychiatry of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang 453002, China.
| | - Sen Zhang
- Mental Health Center of Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong, China.
| | - Youqi Zhou
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; Henan Key Lab of Biological Psychiatry of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China.
| | - Yichen Song
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang 453002, China.
| | - Ge Yang
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China.
| | - Keke Hao
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang 453002, China.
| | - Yongfeng Yang
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang 453002, China.
| | - Wenqiang Li
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; Henan Key Lab of Biological Psychiatry of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China.
| | - Luxian Lv
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; Henan Key Lab of Biological Psychiatry of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang 453002, China.
| | - Yan Zhang
- Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; Henan Key Lab of Biological Psychiatry of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang 453002, China.
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