Brain macromolecules in schizophrenia

项目摘要 精神分裂症是一种严重的衰弱性精神疾病，约有1%的一般 这是一个严重的公共卫生问题，无法治愈。主要的兴奋和抑制 神经递质系统谷氨酸和GABA参与精神分裂症的病理生理学。更好的 对这些系统的了解有助于开发新的干预措施， 精神分裂症和相关疾病。唯一的非侵入性方法，提供在体内测量这些 质子磁共振波谱（MRS），但在短回波时间内准确测量 是有问题的，因为污染了大脑大分子信号。虽然大分子被认为是 干扰信号在MRS研究中，它们实际上可能具有生理意义。大脑大分子是 多发性硬化症、中风、脑肿瘤和脑大分子在啮齿类动物模型中增加 炎症这个R21项目解决了精神分裂症MRS研究所面临的一个主要问题， 大分子在精神分裂症患者中是不同的。没有关于大脑的研究 精神分裂症中的大分子这个项目将研究大脑区域的大分子差异 已知与精神分裂症的病理生理学有关，并显示出MRS差异。的 此外，亦会研究脑大分子与临床及认知症状的关系。的 这个项目的结果将使人们更好地了解大脑大分子在精神分裂症中的作用。 如果患者和对照组之间的大分子不同，则这些测量可以作为 疾病这将为更明确的R01研究提供动力。如果大分子没有不同 在患者和对照组之间，这些信息仍然非常重要，将为研究界提供 确信MRS代谢物差异不是由于 组该项目还将提供来自多个大脑区域的大脑大分子光谱， 从患有精神分裂症的成年人到研究团体，以帮助光谱分析。

Project Summary Schizophrenia is a severely debilitating psychiatric disorder that afflicts approximately 1% of the general population and is a serious public health problem with no cure. The major excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter systems, glutamate and GABA, are involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. A better understanding of these systems could aid in the development of novel interventions for the treatment of schizophrenia and related disorders. The only noninvasive method that provides in vivo measurement of these chemicals is proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), but accurate measurement at short echo times is problematic due to contaminating brain macromolecule signals. Although macromolecules are regarded as a nuisance signal in MRS research, they actually may be physiological meaningful. Brain macromolecules are higher in multiple sclerosis, stroke, brain tumors, and brain macromolecules increase in rodent models of brain inflammation. This R21 project addresses a major problem faced by MRS studies of schizophrenia, whether macromolecules are different in patients with schizophrenia. There are no investigations of brain macromolecules in schizophrenia. This project will investigate macromolecule differences in brain regions known to be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and that have shown MRS differences. The relationship between brain macromolecules and clinical and cognitive symptoms will also be investigated. The results of this project will generate a better understanding of the role of brain macromolecules in schizophrenia. If macromolecules are different between patients and controls, these measures may serve as biomarkers of the illness. This will provide impetus for a more definitive R01 study. If macromolecules are not different between patients and controls, this information is still very important and will provide the research community with confidence that MRS metabolite differences are not due to differences in macromolecule levels among groups. This project will also provide brain macromolecule spectra from multiple brain regions, all acquired from adults with schizophrenia to the research community to aid in spectral analysis.