Reduced mu opioid receptor availability in schizophrenia revealed with [11C]-carfentanil positron emission tomographic Imaging

Abhishekh H. Ashok, Jim Myers, Tiago Reis Marques, Eugenii A. Rabiner and Oliver D. Howes ()
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Abhishekh H. Ashok: Imperial College London
Jim Myers: Imperial College London
Tiago Reis Marques: Imperial College London
Eugenii A. Rabiner: Invicro
Oliver D. Howes: Imperial College London

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Negative symptoms, such as amotivation and anhedonia, are a major cause of functional impairment in schizophrenia. There are currently no licensed treatments for negative symptoms, highlighting the need to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying them. Mu-opioid receptors (MOR) in the striatum play a key role in hedonic processing and reward function and are reduced post-mortem in schizophrenia. However, it is unknown if mu-opioid receptor availability is altered in-vivo or related to negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Using [11 C]-carfentanil positron emission tomography (PET) scans in 19 schizophrenia patients and 20 age-matched healthy controls, here we show a significantly lower MOR availability in patients with schizophrenia in the striatum (Cohen’s d = 0.7), and the hedonic network. In addition, we report a marked global increase in inter-regional covariance of MOR availability in schizophrenia, largely due to increased cortical-subcortical covariance.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12366-4

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