Increased pituitary volume in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Abstract

While hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hyperactivity has been implicated in psychotic disorders, previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the pituitary gland volume in schizophrenia have yielded controversial results. It is also unknown whether patients with schizophrenia spectrum such as schizotypal disorder exhibit pituitary volume changes. In this study, we investigated the pituitary volume using MRI in 47 schizotypal disorder patients (29 males, mean age = 25.0 years), 72 schizophrenia patients (38 males, mean age = 26.2 years), and 81 age and gender matched healthy controls (46 males, mean age = 24.5 years). Both patient groups had a larger pituitary volume compared..