Abstract

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.

Details

Title
Reduced mu opioid receptor availability in schizophrenia revealed with [11C]-carfentanil positron emission tomographic Imaging
Author
Ashok, Abhishekh H 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Myers, Jim 2 ; Tiago Reis Marques 3 ; Rabiner, Eugenii A 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Howes, Oliver D 3 

1  Psychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK; Faculty of Medicine, Psychiatric Imaging Group, Institute of Clinical Sciences (ICS), Imperial College London, London, UK; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, UK; Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK; Department of Radiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 
2  Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK 
3  Psychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK; Faculty of Medicine, Psychiatric Imaging Group, Institute of Clinical Sciences (ICS), Imperial College London, London, UK; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, UK 
4  Invicro, London, UK; Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, London, UK 
Pages
1-9
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Oct 2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12366-4
ProQuest document ID
2300617935
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.