Schizophrenia BIOL PS¥CFIIATRY 103A 19~;27.41A-179A

137 GLIOSIS OF THE CORPUS CALLOSUM IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: A POSTMORTEM STUDY Henry A. NasraUah, M.D., Joel E. Kleinman, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Psychiatry, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210.

We previously reported an increase in corpus czilosum (CC) gliosis in late onset schizophrenia (Nastallah et al., 1983). We report here an attempt to replicate these findings in a new sample of postmortem trains. The brains of 37 psychiatric patients were obtained from the coroner over a 1 year period. Sixteen met DSM-III criteria for schizop~enia by chin review. Histo!og[cal preparations (H&E stain) from medical controls without psychiatric history. A neuropathologist blind to the diagnosis rated the gliosis in all samples as absent (0), mild (+ 1), moderate (+2), or severe (+ 3). No differences in gliosis were found between the schizophrenic and control groups. However, within schizophrenic patients, more gliosis was found in the undifferentiated versus paranoid subgroups (p - 0.047 Wilcoxon rank-sum Test), and in females versus males (p = 0.032). However, greater age accounted for the gfiosis differences observed. We conclude that CC gliosL is not increased in schizophrenic patients, and timt age may be an important factor for the observed gliosis in the neuropathology of schizophrenia.

138 ~NHIBITION OF PYRUVATE DEHYDROGENASE COMPLEX (PDHC) BY ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUGS William Sacks, Ph.D., Aristide H. Esser, M.D., Shirley Sacks, B.S. Nathan S. Kline Psychiatric Institute, Orangeburg, NY /0962.

Ancillary therdpy for chronic mental illness using acetazolamide and thiamine (A + T) resulted in significant symptomatic improvement in a patient population concurrently undergoing a variety of neuroleptic treatments (Psychiatry Research 1989;28:279-288). Since A + T is believed to exert its effects by overcoming a regional deficiency of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) in the brain, the effects of antipsychotic drugs on this enzyme system was of interest. PDHC was therefore isolated from rat brain and drug interactions were assayed in vi~3. With drug-equivalent doses, the rankings of PDHC inhibition were chlorpromazine > thioridazine > promazine > prochlorperazine > trifluprcmazine > haloperidol > perphenazine > clozapine > trifiuoperazine > fluphenazine > thiothixene. With 23 outpatients treated with A +T, a negative cor- relation (r = 0.47, p < 0.05) was found relating degree of improvement with neuroleptics, rated in increasing order of inhibition of PDHC. Thus, a patient receiving thiothixene would be expected to exhibit a more significant improvement thaq one receiving chlorpromazine.

139 GLABELLAR TAP REFLEX AS A MARKER OF NEGATIVE SCHIZOPHRENIA Reuven Sandyk, M.D., M.Sc., Stanley R. Kay, Ph.D. Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of MedicinelMontefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10461

There is evidence that negative schizophrenia is associated with decreased cerebral dopaminergic functions and, as such, may be a variant of Parkinsonism. A positive glabellar tap reflex is a characteristic clinical sign of Parkinsonism, reflecting diminished striatai dopaminergic activity. To investigate the concept that negative schizophrenia and Parkinsonism are interrelated, we studied the association of glabellar tap re, sponses with two major features of the negative syndrome, namely flat affect and poverty of speech, in 78 chronic, institutionalized schizophrenic patients (60 men, 18 women; mean age 64.1 --. 7.6 years). Positive glabellar tap reflex was fodnd to be significantly associated with severity of Oat affect and poverty of speech. Alternatively, it did not covary with age, gender, chronicity of illness, and neuroleptic or anticholinergic therapy. Our findings suggest that the glabellar tap reflex may be a useful clinical sign of negative schizo- phrenia and support the notion that negative schizophrenia and Parkinsonism share a conunon underlying pathophysiology. In terms of treatment, anti-Parkinsonian drugs may be beneficial for therapy-resistant, schizophrenic patients with 2 predominance of negative symptoms.