Reduced mu opioid receptor availability in schizophrenia revealed with [11C]-carfentanil positron emission tomographic Imaging.
Abhishekh Hulegar AshokJim MyersTiago Reis MarquesEugenii A RabinerOliver D HowesPublished in: Nature communications (2019)
Negative symptoms, such as amotivation and anhedonia, are a major cause of functional impairment in schizophrenia. There are currently no licensed treatments for negative symptoms, highlighting the need to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying them. Mu-opioid receptors (MOR) in the striatum play a key role in hedonic processing and reward function and are reduced post-mortem in schizophrenia. However, it is unknown if mu-opioid receptor availability is altered in-vivo or related to negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Using [11 C]-carfentanil positron emission tomography (PET) scans in 19 schizophrenia patients and 20 age-matched healthy controls, here we show a significantly lower MOR availability in patients with schizophrenia in the striatum (Cohen's d = 0.7), and the hedonic network. In addition, we report a marked global increase in inter-regional covariance of MOR availability in schizophrenia, largely due to increased cortical-subcortical covariance.
Keyphrases
- bipolar disorder
- positron emission tomography
- computed tomography
- chronic pain
- pain management
- end stage renal disease
- magnetic resonance imaging
- ejection fraction
- pet ct
- multiple sclerosis
- pet imaging
- magnetic resonance
- peritoneal dialysis
- single cell
- depressive symptoms
- mass spectrometry
- photodynamic therapy
- prefrontal cortex
- binding protein
- patient reported
- drug induced
- network analysis