Schizophrenia bulletin
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Schizophrenia bulletin · May 2017
Abnormal Grey Matter Arteriolar Cerebral Blood Volume in Schizophrenia Measured With 3D Inflow-Based Vascular-Space-Occupancy MRI at 7T.
Metabolic dysfunction and microvascular abnormality may contribute to the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Most previous studies of cerebral perfusion in schizophrenia measured total cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the brain, which reflect the ensemble signal from the arteriolar, capillary, and venular compartments of the microvasculature. As the arterioles are the most actively regulated blood vessels among these compartments, they may be the most sensitive component of the microvasculature to metabolic disturbances. ⋯ GM CBVa increase was also found in a few brain regions. Our results imply that microvascular abnormality may play a role in schizophrenia, and suggest GM CBVa as a potential marker for the disease. Further investigation is needed to elucidate whether such effects are due to primary vascular impairment or secondary to other causes, such as metabolic dysfunction.