Analysis of ependymal abnormalities in subjects with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression

Abnormalities of the ependyma can serve as a marker of early brain insults. The presence of ependymal abnormalities was determined in sections containing ependyma of the temporal horn obtained from the Stanley Neuropathology Consortium: 15 subjects with schizophrenia, 15 with bipolar illness, 15 with major depression and 15 normal controls. There were no significant differences in numbers of subjects with ependymal discontinuities or subventricular rosettes. Subjects with schizophrenia had significantly less nodular gliosis than normal subjects (p=0.02); there was a trend for subjects with depression to have less nodular gliosis than normal subjects (p=0.06). Control subjects had unexpectedly high rates of ependymal abnormalities, indicating that ependymal abnormalities may not be a useful marker of pre- or perinatal events associated with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders in adult postmortem tissue.