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AuthorPonirakis, Georgios
AuthorGhandi, Reem
AuthorAhmed, Amani
AuthorGad, Hoda
AuthorPetropoulos, Ioannis N.
AuthorKhan, Adnan
AuthorElsotouhy, Ahmed
AuthorVattoth, Surjith
AuthorAlshawwaf, Mahmoud K. M.
AuthorKhoodoruth, Mohamed Adil Shah
AuthorRamadan, Marwan
AuthorBhagat, Anjushri
AuthorCurrie, James
AuthorMahfoud, Ziyad
AuthorAl Hamad, Hanadi
AuthorOwn, Ahmed
AuthorM. Haddad, Peter
AuthorAlabdulla, Majid
AuthorMalik, Rayaz A.
AuthorWoodruff, Peter W.
Available date2024-03-04T03:41:13Z
Publication Date2022
Publication NameScientific Reports
ResourceScopus
ISSN20452322
URIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05609-w
URIhttp://hdl.handle.net/10576/52572
AbstractNeurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative pathology occur in Schizophrenia. This study compared the utility of corneal confocal microscopy (CCM), an ophthalmic imaging technique with MRI brain volumetry in quantifying neuronal pathology and its relationship to cognitive dysfunction and symptom severity in schizophrenia. Thirty-six subjects with schizophrenia and 26 controls underwent assessment of cognitive function, symptom severity, CCM and MRI brain volumetry. Subjects with schizophrenia had lower cognitive function (P ≤ 0.01), corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD), length (CNFL), branch density (CNBD), CNBD:CNFD ratio (P < 0.0001) and cingulate gyrus volume (P < 0.05) but comparable volume of whole brain (P = 0.61), cortical gray matter (P = 0.99), ventricle (P = 0.47), hippocampus (P = 0.10) and amygdala (P = 0.68). Corneal nerve measures and cingulate gyrus volume showed no association with symptom severity (P = 0.35–0.86 and P = 0.50) or cognitive function (P = 0.35–0.86 and P = 0.49). Corneal nerve measures were not associated with metabolic syndrome (P = 0.61–0.64) or diabetes (P = 0.057–0.54). The area under the ROC curve distinguishing subjects with schizophrenia from controls was 88% for CNFL, 84% for CNBD and CNBD:CNFD ratio, 79% for CNFD and 73% for the cingulate gyrus volume. This study has identified a reduction in corneal nerve fibers and cingulate gyrus volume in schizophrenia, but no association with symptom severity or cognitive dysfunction. Corneal nerve loss identified using CCM may act as a rapid non-invasive surrogate marker of neurodegeneration in patients with schizophrenia.
SponsorThis work was supported by the Qatar National Research Fund (RAM, Grant number BMRP-5726113101) and the Hamad Medical Corporation (PWW, Grant number IRGC-04-SI-17-166). The publication of this article was funded by the Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar Distributed eLibrary.
Languageen
PublisherNature Research
SubjectDiagnostic markers
Endocrine system and metabolic diseases
Neurological disorders
TitleAbnormal corneal nerve morphology and brain volume in patients with schizophrenia
TypeArticle
Issue Number1
Volume Number12
dc.accessType Open Access


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