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Abnormal regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia patients comorbid with depression

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A Correction to this article was published on 13 October 2021

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Abstract

The current study aimed to characterize the regional homogeneity (ReHo) or fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) alterations in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia comorbid with depression. Sixty-nine first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia patients and 34 healthy controls (HC) were included in the final analysis. Schizophrenia patients were divided into depressive patients (DP) and non-depressive patients (NDP), with 35 and 34 patients respectively, using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression -17(HRSD-17). All participants underwent resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), the fALFF (slow-4 and slow-5 bands) and ReHo were used to process the data. The results revealed eleven brain regions with altered slow-5 fALFF, eleven brain regions with altered slow-4 fALFF and ten brain regions with altered ReHo among DP, NDP and HC groups. Compared to NDP, the DP group had increased slow-5 fALFF in the Right Inferior Temporal Gyrus, increased ReHo in the Right Superior and Inferior Frontal Gyrus. The altered slow-5 fALFF in the Right Inferior Temporal Gyrus, altered ReHo in the Right Inferior Frontal Gyrus and Superior Frontal Gyrus were all positively correlated with the depressive symptoms in patients. However, there were no significant differences in slow-4 fALFF between DP and NDP groups. Our results indicate that the increased slow-5 fALFF in the Right Inferior Temporal Gyrus, increased ReHo in the Right Superior and Inferior Frontal Gyrus were associated with depressive symptoms in schizophrenia, which may provide preliminary evidence in better understanding the neural mechanisms underlying depressive symptoms in schizophrenia.

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Acknowledgments

We are deeply grateful to all participants who made contributions to our study for their generous participation, and psychiatrists for their help in the recruitment and diagnosis of schizophrenia patients.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC1306800, 2018YFC1314300 and 2016YFC1307002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81971255 and 81571314), the medical key talent projects in Jiangsu Province (ZDRCA2016075), the Jiangsu Municipal Commission of Heath and Family Planning (H2017051), the Nanjing Municipal Commission of Heath and Family Planning (ZKX15033).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Affiliated Nanjing Brain Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China

    Xinyu Fang, Rongrong Zhang, Chenxi Bao, Min Zhou, Wei Yan, Shuiping Lu, Shiping Xie & Xiangrong Zhang

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  1. Xinyu Fang
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  2. Rongrong Zhang
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  3. Chenxi Bao
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  4. Min Zhou
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  5. Wei Yan
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  6. Shuiping Lu
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  7. Shiping Xie
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  8. Xiangrong Zhang
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Contributions

XF, XZ and SX conceptualized and designed the study. RZ, CB, MZ, WY, SL and SX recruited the participants and completed the screening assessments. XF, RZ and CB performed the MRI manipulation. XF, RZ, CB, XZ and SX analyzed the data and performed the statistical analysis. XF, RZ, CB, XZ and SX wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors revised the manuscript and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Shiping Xie or Xiangrong Zhang.

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All procedures for this study were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Boards of the Nanjing Brain Hospital. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant before the commencement of this study.

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None to declare.

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Xinyu Fang, Rongrong Zhang and Chenxi Bao contributed to this work equally. They should be regarded as Joint First Author.

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Fang, X., Zhang, R., Bao, C. et al. Abnormal regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) in first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia patients comorbid with depression. Brain Imaging and Behavior 15, 2627–2636 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-021-00465-0

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