Metabolic abnormality in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder: proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy

• Published in: Acta neuropsychiatrica Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 164 - 169
• Main Authors: Park, Shin-Eui, Choi, Nam-Gil, Jeong, Gwang-Woo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Dutch
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.06.2017
• Subjects: Adult; Aspartic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Aspartic Acid - metabolism; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - metabolism; Choline - metabolism; Education; Female; Gender; Glutamic Acid - metabolism; Glutamine - metabolism; Humans; Inositol - metabolism; Lactic Acid - metabolism; Male; Mental disorders; Metabolism; Metabolites; Neuroimaging - methods; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - metabolism; Original Articles; Prefrontal Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Prefrontal Cortex - metabolism; Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology; Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Spectrum analysis; Young Adult; obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD); dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS)
• ISSN: 0924-2708; 1601-5215
• DOI: 10.1017/neu.2016.48

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used to evaluate metabolic changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In total, 14 OCD patients (mean age 28.9±7.2 years) and 14 healthy controls (mean age 32.6±7.1 years) with no history of neurological and psychiatric illness participated in this study. Brain metabolite concentrations were measured from a localised voxel on the right DLPFC using a 3-Tesla 1H-MRS. The metabolic concentration of myo-inositol in patients with OCD increased significantly by 52% compared with the healthy controls, whereas glutamine/glutamate was decreased by 11%. However, there were no significant differences in N-acetylaspartate, choline, lactate and lipid between the two groups. These findings would be helpful to understand the pathophysiology of OCD associated with the brain metabolic abnormalities in the right DLPFC.