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

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.

Keywords: Amplitude of low frequency fluctuation; Depressive symptoms; Drug-naïve; First-episode; Regional homogeneity; Schizophrenia.