Cortical interneurons in schizophrenia – cause or effect?

Scientific paper - Review paper

• Author: Matija Vid Prkačin
• Author: Ivan Banovac
• Author: Zdravko Petanjek
• Author: Ana Hladnik
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; School of Medicine; (Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; Basic Medical Sciences; Anatomy

Abstract (english)

GABAergic cortical interneurons are important components of cortical microcircuits. Their alterations are associated with a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders, and are thought to be especially important in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Here, we reviewed neuroanatomical and histological studies that analyzed different populations of cortical interneurons in postmortem human tissue from patients with schizophrenia and adequately matched controls. The data strongly suggests that in schizophrenia only selective interneuron populations are affected, with alterations of somatostatin and parvalbumin neurons being the most convincing. The most prominent changes are found in the prefrontal cortex, which is consistent with the impairment of higher cognitive functions characteristic of schizophrenia. In contrast, calretinin neurons, the most numerous interneuron population in primates, seem to be largely unaffected. The selective alterations of cortical interneurons are in line with the neurodevelopmental model and the multiple-hit hypothesis of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, a large number of data on interneurons in schizophrenia is still inconclusive, with different studies yielding opposing findings. Furthermore, no studies found a clear link between interneuron alterations and clinical outcomes. Future research should focus on the causes of changes in the cortical microcircuitry in order to identify potential therapeutic targets.

• Keywords (english): Animals; Humans; Interneurons / metabolism; Interneurons / pathology; Neurons / metabolism; Parvalbumins / metabolism; Prefrontal Cortex / metabolism; Schizophrenia / pathology
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Review paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Croatian Medical Journal
• Numbering: vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 110-122
• p-ISSN: 0353-9504
• e-ISSN: 1332-8166
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2023.64.110
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:105:171660
• Publication: 2023-04
• Document URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10183954/
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2023-07-14 09:38:37