Luciano de Menezes Sanchez, Paulo Jannuzzi Cunha, Maristela S Schaufelberger
Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM 21), Department of Psychiatry, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
Clarissa Trzesniak
Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Hospital das Clinicas Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Fábio LS Duran
Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM 21), Department of Psychiatry, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
Marcia Scazufca
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo city, São Paulo, Brazil
Paulo R Menezes
Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo city, São Paulo, Brazil
Robin M Murray
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK
Jaime E Hallak, José Alexandre S Crippa
Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Hospital das Clinicas Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Geraldo F Busatto
Laboratory of Psychiatric Neuroimaging (LIM 21), Department of Psychiatry, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
Abstract:
Recent studies suggested that cannabis use influences on the emergence of psychosis by disrupting neurodevelopmental processes that occur during adolescence and early adulthood and which are reflected on brain anatomical changes detectable with MRI. However, no MRI studies have investigated whether intrauterine neurodevelopmental abnormalities also interact with later cannabis use to influence on psychosis risk. We investigated differences between first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients with history of cannabis use (FEPC+, n=28), FEP subjects without cannabis use (FEPC-, n=78) and healthy controls (n=80) in regard to the frequency of absent or short Adhesio Interthalamica (AI), a well-established marker of intrauterine neurodevelopment. The FEPC+ subgroup had a significantly lower prevalence of absent AI than FEPC- subjects, as well as a lack of a significantly shorter AI length compared to controls (as found in FEPC- subjects). These preliminary results show that psychosis subjects with cannabis use present a low rather than high frequency of absent AI, suggesting that fixed intrauterine neurodevelopmental abnormalities may not be associated with cannabis use later in life to influence on the emergence of psychosis. This is consistent with a view that multiple different etiological processes may lead to similar clinical presentations in patients with FEP.
Keywords:Adhesio Interthalamica; Cavum Septum Pellucidum; Cannabis; First episode psychosis; Neurodevelopmental; Magnetic resonance imaging