Specificity proteins 1 and 4, hippocampal volume and first-episode psychosis.
Fusté M., Meléndez-Pérez I., Villalta-Gil V., Pinacho R., Villalmanzo N., Cardoner N., Menchón JM., Haro JM., Soriano-Mas C., Ramos B.
We assessed specificity protein 1 (SP1) and 4 (SP4) transcription factor levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and conducted a voxel-based morphometry analysis on brain structural magnetic resonance images from 11 patients with first-episode psychosis and 14 healthy controls. We found lower SP1 and SP4 levels in patients, which correlated positively with right hippocampal volume. These results extend previous evidence showing that such transcription factors may constitute a molecular pathway to the development of psychosis.