Neuromelanin accumulation in patients with schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. (January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ueno, Fumihiko; Iwata, Yusuke; Nakajima, Shinichiro; Caravaggio, Fernando; Rubio, Jose M.; Horga, Guillermo; Cassidy, Clifford M.; Torres-Carmona, Edgardo; de Luca, Vincenzo; Tsugawa, Sakiko; Honda, Shiori; Moriguchi, Sho; Noda, Yoshihiro; Gerretsen, Philip; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. Volume 132(2022)
• Page Start: 1205
• Page End: 1213
• Publication Date: 2022-01
• Subjects: Dopamine -- Neuromelanin -- NM-MRI -- Review -- Schizophrenia -- Substantia nigra; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Human behavior -- Periodicals; Animal behavior -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Behavior -- Periodicals; Ethology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiologie -- Périodiques; Comportement humain -- Périodiques; Animaux -- Mœurs et comportement -- Périodiques; Neurologie -- Périodiques; Animal behavior; Human behavior; Neurology; Psychophysiology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 573.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.10.028
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0149-7634

Abstract

Highlights: Neuromelanin is thought to serve as a biomarker for midbrain dopamine function. Neuromelanin can be detected by an NM-MRI non-invasively and cost-effectively. Schizophrenia showed higher NM-MRI signals in the substantia nigra than controls. Further studies will validate the clinical utility of NM-MRI for stratifying schizophrenia. Abstract: Although schizophrenia is associated with increased presynaptic dopamine function in the striatum, it remains unclear if neuromelanin levels, which are thought to serve as a biomarker for midbrain dopamine neuron function, are increased in patients with schizophrenia. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and postmortem studies comparing neuromelanin (NM) levels between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls (HCs). Standard mean differences were calculated to assess group differences in NM accumulation levels between patients with schizophrenia and HCs. This study included 7 articles in total. Five studies employed NM-sensitive MRI (NM-MRI) and two were postmortem brain studies. The patient group (n = 163) showed higher NM levels in the substantia nigra (SN) than HCs (n = 228) in both the analysis of the seven studies and the subgroup analysis of the 5 NM-MRI studies. This analysis suggest increased NM levels in the SN may be a potential biomarker for stratifying schizophrenia, warranting further research that accounts for the heterogeneity of this disorder.