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Cellular and Extracellular White Matter Abnormalities in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Diffusion Magnetic
Maria Paula Maziero1, Johanna Seitz-Holland2, Kang Ik K Cho2
1LIM 23, Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Faculty of Medicine, City University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is linked to widespread white matter (WM) abnormalities. This study found lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher free water (FW) in OCD patients, indicating microstructural changes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Previous research implicates white matter (WM) in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) pathology.
- Neurobiological underpinnings of OCD's WM involvement require further elucidation.
- Free-water (FW) imaging offers a novel approach to assess cellular and extracellular WM integrity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify cellular and extracellular white matter (WM) abnormalities in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using free-water (FW) imaging.
- To compare WM diffusion measures between OCD patients and healthy controls.
- To investigate the relationship between diffusion measures and clinical variables in OCD.
Main Methods:
- Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) data acquired from 83 OCD patients and 52 controls.
- Analysis included fractional anisotropy (FA), FA of cellular tissue, and extracellular FW maps.
- Tract-based spatial statistics and voxelwise comparisons were employed using FSL Randomise.
Main Results:
- OCD patients exhibited significantly lower FA and FA of cellular tissue across the WM skeleton compared to controls.
- Patients with OCD showed significantly higher extracellular free water (FW) in the WM skeleton.
- No significant correlations were found between diffusion measures and clinical variables (age of onset, symptom severity).
Conclusions:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with widespread microstructural abnormalities in both cellular and extracellular white matter (WM).
- These findings extend beyond the typically implicated corticostriatothalamocortical circuits.
- Further multimodal longitudinal studies are recommended to explore the influence of clinical factors on OCD's illness trajectory.
Keywords:
Diffusion MRIFree-water imagingMicrostructureObsessive-compulsive disorderTract-based spatial statisticsWhite matterMore Related Videos
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