Adverse clinical outcomes in people at clinical high-risk for psychosis related to altered interactions between hippocampal activity and glutamatergic function

Paul Allen, Emily J. Hird*, Natasza Orlov, Gemma Modinos, Matthijs Bossong, Mathilde Antoniades, Carly Sampson, Matilda Azis, Oliver Howes, James Stone, Jesus Perez, Matthew Broome, Antony A. Grace, Philip McGuire

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Preclinical rodent models suggest that psychosis involves alterations in the activity and glutamatergic function in the hippocampus, driving dopamine activity through projections to the striatum. The extent to which this model applies to the onset of psychosis in clinical subjects is unclear. We assessed whether interactions between hippocampal glutamatergic function and activity/striatal connectivity are associated with adverse clinical outcomes in people at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis. We measured functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of hippocampal activation/connectivity, and 1H-Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of hippocampal glutamatergic metabolites in 75 CHR participants and 31 healthy volunteers. At follow-up, 12 CHR participants had transitioned to psychosis and 63 had not. Within the clinical high-risk cohort, at follow-up, 35 and 17 participants had a poor or a good functional outcome, respectively. The onset of psychosis (ppeakFWE = 0.003, t = 4.4, z = 4.19) and a poor functional outcome (ppeakFWE < 0.001, t = 5.52, z = 4.81 and ppeakFWE < 0.001, t = 5.25, z = 4.62) were associated with a negative correlation between the hippocampal activation and hippocampal Glx concentration at baseline. In addition, there was a negative association between hippocampal Glx concentration and hippocampo-striatal connectivity (ppeakFWE = 0.016, t = 3.73, z = 3.39, ppeakFWE = 0.014, t = 3.78, z = 3.42, ppeakFWE = 0.011, t = 4.45, z = 3.91, ppeakFWE = 0.003, t = 4.92, z = 4.23) in the total CHR sample, not seen in healthy volunteers. As predicted by preclinical models, adverse clinical outcomes in people at risk for psychosis are associated with altered interactions between hippocampal activity and glutamatergic function.

Original languageEnglish
Article number579
Number of pages9
JournalTranslational Psychiatry
Volume11
Issue number1
Early online date10 Nov 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
A.G. receives research funding from Alkermes, Lundbeck, and receives consulting fees from Takeda, Roche, Lyra, and Concert. ODH has received investigator-initiated research funding from and/ or participated in advisory/speaker meetings organised by Astra-Zeneca, Autifony, BMS, Eli Lilly, Heptares, Jansenn, Lundbeck, Lyden-Delta, Otsuka, Servier, Sunovion, Rand and Roche. Neither ODH or his family have been employed by or have holdings/a financial stake in any biomedical company.

This research was funded in whole, or in part, by the Wellcome Trust [grant 091667/ Z/10/Z]. For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. This study was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London, Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. EJH is funded by the Medical Research Council (Grant No. MC-A656-5QD30, Grant No. MC_PC_17214) GM is funded by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (#202397/Z/ 16/Z). AG is funded by USPHS MH57440. MB was supported by a Veni fellowship from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
  • Biological Psychiatry

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