Diana M. Lindquist1, R S. Dunn1, Brian Zappia1
1Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
Multiple MRS studies have reported that N-acetylaspartate levels generally are
decreased in the frontal and temporal lobes of schizophrenic patients compared
with controls. Since patients usually are stabilized on antipsychotics when
they are examined, changes in metabolite concentrations could result from the
disease and/or the drugs. Differentiating the effects of disease from
treatment, without confounds resulting from lifestyle, is difficult in
patients. Here we report the results of a 6-month study in normal rat brain to
determine the effects of antipsychotics on metabolite levels. Our results
indicate that antipsychotic drugs do not significantly alter the concentrations
of any metabolite.