Decreased glutathione levels predict loss of brain volume in children and adolescents with first-episode psychosis in a two-year longitudinal study

In patients, after controlling for possible confounding variables, lower baseline GSH levels were significantly associated with greater volume decrease in left frontal (B = 0.034, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.011 to 0.056, r = 0.620, p = 0.006), parietal (B = 0.039, 95% CI: 0.020 to 0.059, r = 0.739, p = 0.001), temporal (B = 0.026, 95% CI: 0.016 to 0.036, r = 0.779, p < 0.001), and total (B = 0.022, 95% CI: 0.014 to 0.031, r = 0.803, p < 0.001) gray matter, and with greater increase in total CSF (B = − 0.560, 95% CI: − 0.270 to − 0.850, r = − 0.722, p = 0.001). Controls did not show significant associations between brain volume changes and GSH levels. GSH deficit during the first psychotic episode was related to greater loss of cortical GM two years later in patients with first-episode EOP, suggesting that oxidative damage may contribute to the progressive loss of cortical GM found in patients with first-episode psychosis.