Background

Neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) plays an important role in neurodevelopmental processes and regulates hippocampal plasticity. This study investigated the relationship between the serum NCAM concentrations and hippocampal volume and psychotic symptoms in first-episode drug naïve schizophrenia (FES) patients.

Methods

Forty-four FES patients and forty-four healthy controls (HC) were recruited in this study. Serum concentrations of NCAM were measured by ELISA. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). Brain structural images were obtained using a 3T MRI Scanner and obtained T1 images were processed in order to determine hippocampal grey matter volumes.

Results

Schizophrenia patients revealed significantly decreased serum NCAM concentrations (p = 0.017), which were positively correlated with the left (r = 0.523, p < 0.001) and right (r = 0.449, p = 0.041) hippocampal volumes, but negatively correlated with the PANSS positive symptom scores (r = −0.522 p = 0.001). However, no such correlations existed in the HC group.

Conclusions

This is the first time to report that decreased serum NCAM concentrations were associated with hippocampal volumes and symptom severity in FES patients. Our data indicate that the low NCAM is possible neuropathology that is associated with the decreased hippocampus in FES patients.

中文翻译：

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在首发精神分裂症患者中，血清NCAM降低与海马体积呈正相关，与阳性症状呈负相关。

背景

神经细胞粘附分子（NCAM）在神经发育过程中起重要作用，并调节海马可塑性。这项研究调查了首发药物初治精神分裂症（FES）患者的血清NCAM浓度和海马体积与精神症状之间的关系。

方法

这项研究招募了44名FES患者和44名健康对照（HC）。通过ELISA测量血清NCAM浓度。精神症状通过阳性和阴性综合征量表（PANSS）进行评估。使用3T MRI扫描仪获取大脑结构图像，并对获得的T1图像进行处理，以确定海马灰质的体积。

结果

精神分裂症患者的血清NCAM浓度显着降低（p  = 0.017），与左侧（r = 0.523，p  <0.001）和右侧（r = 0.449，p  = 0.041）海马体积呈正相关，而与PANSS呈负相关阳性症状评分（r = -0.522 p  = 0.001）。但是，HC组中不存在这种相关性。

结论

这是首次报告血清NCAM浓度降低与FES患者的海马体积和症状严重程度有关。我们的数据表明，低NCAM是与FES患者海马减少相关的可能的神经病理学。