Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29511299›Full record

SynthesisMolecular psychiatry2019

Synaptic loss in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis and systematic review of synaptic protein and mRNA measures.

Emanuele Felice Osimo, Katherine Beck, Tiago Reis Marques, Oliver D Howes

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Molecular psychiatry, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 138 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
138citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
12.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

138 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 255 citations in OpenAlex.

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  17. Whole brain grey matter synaptic terminal density, age and intellectual functioning in schizophrenia: an in vivo [Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
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  20. Review

78 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Emanuele Felice OsimoPsychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6239-5691
Katherine BeckPsychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Tiago Reis MarquesPsychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Oliver D HowesPsychiatric Imaging Group, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK. oliver.howes@kcl.ac.uk.
King's College London · GBUniversity of Cambridge · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council G0700995Medical Research Council MC_U120097115Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although synaptic loss is thought to be core to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, the nature, consistency and magnitude of synaptic protein and mRNA changes has not been systematically appraised. Our objective was thus to systematically review and meta-analyse findings. The entire PubMed database was searched for studies from inception date to the 1st of July 2017. We selected case-control postmortem studies in schizophrenia quantifying synaptic protein or mRNA levels in brain tissue. The difference in protein and mRNA levels between cases and controls was extracted and meta-analysis conducted. Among the results, we found a significant reduction in synaptophysin in schizophrenia in the hippocampus (effect size: -0.65, p < 0.01), frontal (effect size: -0.36, p = 0.04), and cingulate cortices (effect size: -0.54, p = 0.02), but no significant changes for synaptophysin in occipital and temporal cortices, and no changes for SNAP-25, PSD-95, VAMP, and syntaxin in frontal cortex. There were insufficient studies for meta-analysis of complexins, synapsins, rab3A and synaptotagmin and mRNA measures. Findings are summarised for these, which generally show reductions in SNAP-25, PSD-95, synapsin and rab3A protein levels in the hippocampus but inconsistency in other regions. Our findings of moderate-large reductions in synaptophysin in hippocampus and frontal cortical regions, and a tendency for reductions in other pre- and postsynaptic proteins in the hippocampus are consistent with models that implicate synaptic loss in schizophrenia. However, they also identify potential differences between regions and proteins, suggesting synaptic loss is not uniform in nature or extent.

Indexed as

AdultBrainCase-Control StudiesDisks Large Homolog 4 ProteinFemaleGyrus CinguliHippocampusHumansMaleMiddle Agedrab3A GTP-Binding ProteinRNA, MessengerSchizophreniaSynapsesSynapsinsSynaptic VesiclesDisks Large Homolog 4 Proteinrab3A GTP-Binding ProteinRNA, MessengerSNAP25 protein, humanSynapsinsSynaptophysinSynaptosomal-Associated Protein 25

Identifiers

PMID29511299
PMCPMC6004314
OpenAlexW2791381106

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.