Elevated glutamine but not glutamate is associated with clozapine eligibility in an early psychosis sample

While elevated ACC glutamate has been associated with poor response to antipsychotic medications in early psychosis samples, this is the first study to explore the association with clozapine eligibility. Contrary to our hypothesis, ACC glutamate was not higher in the CE group. However, glutamine, a precursor to glutamate, was higher in the CE group, in line with previous studies that have found elevated glutamatergic metabolites to be associated with poor treatment response to antipsychotic medication. Our results support future studies to further characterize the neurobiology of clozapine eligibility in early-phase psychosis to assist in the timely initiation of clozapine to maximize outcomes.