O4.2. HERITABILITY AND CORRELATION TO SCHIZOPHRENIA SPECTRUM DISORDER OF GLUTAMATE AND OTHER NEUROMETABOLITE LEVELS IN ANTERIOR CINGULATE AND LEFT THALAMUS: A REGISTER BASED MAGNETIC RESONANCE TWIN STUDY

摘要

BackgroundGlutamatergic changes in schizophrenia may precede dopaminergic alterations leading to psychopathology as part of a dopaminergic pathway, or they may represent a distinct pathophysiology. It is unknown if these glutamatergic alterations are due to genetic influences, although findings in gene studies implicate the NMDA receptor. Higher levels of glutamate and glutamine have been reported in the thalamus of patients with schizophrenia, while studies of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) have reported increased, decreased, and unaltered levels compared to healthy controls.By studying discordant mono- (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins it is possible to estimate heritability and correlation to disease in the same population. This kind of study has only been done once on glutamate levels, but no heritability estimates were reported.1 A study of older healthy twins found N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatinine (Cr), and myo-inositol (MI) levels to be heritable in posterior cingulate cortex.2 Of these metabolites, NAA has generally been found to correlate negatively with schizophrenia. Here we present our final results on heritability, and correlation to liability for schizophrenia spectrum disorder (ICD-10 F2x.x) of the neurometabolite levels in the ACC and the left thalamus.