Reduced Purkinje Cell Size in the Cerebellar Vermis of Elderly Patients With Schizophrenia

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry Vol. 155; no. 9; pp. 1288 - 1290
• Main Authors: Tran, Khoa D., Smutzer, Gregory S., Doty, Richard L., Arnold, Steven E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychiatric Publishing 01.09.1998; American Psychiatric Association
• Subjects: Aged; Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use; Autopsy; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Cell Count; Cell Size; Cells; Cerebellum - cytology; Cerebellum - pathology; Female; Geriatrics; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Male; Medical sciences; Older people; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales - statistics & numerical data; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Purkinje Cells - cytology; Purkinje Cells - pathology; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; Schizophrenia - pathology; Psychosis; Cerebellum; Human; Vermis; Purkinje neuron; Central nervous system; Schizophrenia; Medical imagery; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0002-953X; 1535-7228
• DOI: 10.1176/ajp.155.9.1288

Objective: The authors' goal was to compare the size and linear density of Purkinje cells in the cerebellar vermis of subjects with and without schizophrenia. Method: Blocks of alcohol-fixed cerebellar vermis were dissected at autopsy from the brains of 14 elderly patients with schizophrenia and 13 elderly subjects with no history of neuropsychiatric illness. The blocks of vermis were sectioned and stained with 1% cresyl violet. The linear density and cross-sectional area of Purkinje cells were measured by using computer-assisted image analysis. The subjects with schizophrenia had been assessed with clinical rating scales within 1 year prior to death.Results: The average cross-sectional areas of Purkinje cells of the patients with schizophrenia were significantly smaller (by 8.3%) than those of the subjects without neuropsychiatric illness. No difference in Purkinje cell linear density was observed between the two groups. Significant correlations were seen between Purkinje cell size and scores on the Mini-Mental State, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and the antipsychotic drug dose.Conclusions: These data indicate cerebellar involvement in schizophrenia; they are also consistent with reports of reduced neuronal size in other brain regions of patients with schizophrenia. These findings support a model of widespread central nervous system abnormality in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 1998; 155: 1288-1290