Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:346-354
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Blunted change in cerebral glucose utilization after haloperidol treatment in schizophrenic patients with prominent negative symptoms
A Wolkin, M Sanfilipo, E Duncan, B Angrist, AP Wolf, TB Cooper, JD Brodie, E Laska and JP Rotrosen
Psychiatry Service, New York VA Medical Center, 10010, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this report was to determine 1) the effects of
chronic haloperidol treatment on cerebral metabolism in schizophrenic
patients, 2) the relation between negative symptoms and haloperidol-induced
regional changes in cerebral glucose utilization, and 3) the relation
between metabolic change and clinical antipsychotic effect. METHOD:
Cerebral glucose utilization, as determined by position emission tomography
(PET), was studied in 18 male schizophrenic subjects before and after
chronic treatment with haloperidol at a standardized plasma level. RESULTS:
Overall, haloperidol caused a widespread decrease in absolute cerebral
glucose metabolism. The cerebral metabolic response to haloperidol was
blunted in patients with high pretreatment negative symptom scores.
CONCLUSIONS: Taken together with the results from a previously reported PET
study of the effects of an acute amphetamine challenge (in which 14 of the
current subjects participated), these data suggest that the negative
symptom complex is associated with diminished cerebral response to change
in dopaminergic activity. This deficit cannot be solely accounted for by
structural differences.
