1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy evidence for occipital involvement in treatment-naive paediatric
Maria Ljungberg1, Marie K L Nilsson2, Karin Melin3
11Department of Radiation Physics,Institute of Clinical Sciences,Sahlgrenska Academy,University of Gothenburg,Göteborg,Sweden.
Insights
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children shows correlations between brain metabolite levels and symptom severity, particularly in the occipital cortex. These findings suggest specific brain region involvement in pediatric OCD, even without clear group separation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic condition causing significant distress and disability.
- While therapies are effective for many pediatric OCD patients, partial responses necessitate further understanding of the disorder's pathophysiology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the brain metabolite concentrations in treatment-naive children and adolescents with OCD using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).
- To explore correlations between metabolite levels and OCD symptom severity.
Main Methods:
- 1H MRS was employed to measure brain metabolite concentrations in the cingulate gyrus/sulcus, occipital cortex, thalamus, and caudate nucleus.
- Treatment-naive pediatric OCD patients (13) were compared to healthy controls (11).
- Multivariate analyses assessed metabolite concentration values and their correlation with symptom severity (CY-BOCS).
Main Results:
- No significant separation in metabolite concentrations was found between OCD patients and controls.
- A notable correlation was observed between metabolite concentrations and OCD symptom severity (CY-BOCS).
- Strongest correlations included aspartate and choline in the caudate nucleus with obsessions, thalamic lipids, and occipital glutamate+glutamine, N-acetylaspartate, and myo-inositol with obsessions.
Conclusions:
- Correlations between 1H MRS findings and CY-BOCS scores in pediatric OCD patients suggest occipital lobe involvement.
- These findings align with previous studies on adult OCD patients.
- The 1H MRS data did not support a clear distinction between the OCD patient and control groups based on metabolite concentrations.
Objective:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder leading to considerable distress and disability. Therapies are effective in a majority of paediatric patients, however, many only get partial response. It is therefore important to study the underlying pathophysiology of the disorder.
Methods:
1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was used to study the concentration of brain metabolites in four different locations (cingulate gyrus and sulcus, occipital cortex, thalamus and right caudate nucleus). Treatment-naive children and adolescents with OCD (13 subjects) were compared with a group of healthy age- and gender-matched subjects (11 subjects). Multivariate analyses were performed on the concentration values.
Results:
No separation between controls and patients was found. However, a correlation between metabolite concentrations and symptom severity as measured with the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) was found. Strongest was the correlation with the CY-BOCS obsession subscore and aspartate and choline in the caudate nucleus (positively correlated with obsessions), lipids at 2 and 0.9 ppm in thalamus, and occipital glutamate+glutamine, N-acetylaspartate and myo-inosytol (negatively correlated with obsessions).
Conclusions:
The observed correlations between 1H MRS and CY-BOCS in treatment-naive patients further supports an occipital involvement in OCD. The results are consistent with our previous study on adult OCD patients. The 1H MRS data were not supportive of a separation between the patient and control groups.
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