Tao Yu,1,* Wenzhi Pei,1 Xulai Zhang,1 Chenchen Deng2,* 

1Anhui Mental Health Center; Affiliated Psychological Hospital of Anhui Medical University; Hefei Fourth People’s Hospital, Hefei, Anhui, 230022, People’s Republic of China; 2Anhui Province Maternity & Child Health Hospital, Hefei, Anhui, 230022, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Xulai Zhang, Email 479800330@qq.com

Background: Thyroid dysfunction and frontal lobe gray matter volume (GMV) alterations are associated with violence in schizophrenia (SCZ); however, little is known about the relationship between thyroid dysfunction and frontal lobe GMV. This study aimed to evaluate whether thyroid hormone levels were associated with frontal lobe GMV in male patients with schizophrenia and violence.
Methods: Fifty-five male patients with SCZ underwent triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (fT3), and free thyroxine (fT4) tests and structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) scans. The sMRI data were processed using the FreeSurfer version 5.0. Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between frontal lobe GMV and thyroid hormone levels in all patients.
Results: Patients with SCZ and violence exhibited lower GMV of the left frontal pole and higher TSH levels than those without violence. After controlling for potential covariates, the frontal pole GMV was negatively associated with TSH levels in all participants.
Conclusion: These findings expand our understanding of the influence of TSH on frontal pole GMV in patients with schizophrenia and violence.

Keywords: thyroid, schizophrenia, violence, gray matter volume, MRI, structures