White matter abnormalities in drug-naïve patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: a Diffusion Tensor Study before and after citalopram treatment

• Published in: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol. 116; no. 3; pp. 211 - 219
• Main Authors: Yoo, S. Y., Jang, J. H., Shin, Y.-W., Kim, D. J., Park, H.-J., Moon, W.-J., Chung, E. C., Lee, J.-M., Kim, I. Y., Kim, S. I., Kwon, J. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2007; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anisotropy; Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation - adverse effects; Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation - therapeutic use; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - drug effects; Caudate Nucleus - drug effects; Caudate Nucleus - pathology; Cerebral Cortex - drug effects; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; citalopram; Citalopram - adverse effects; Citalopram - therapeutic use; Corpus Callosum - drug effects; Corpus Callosum - pathology; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Dominance, Cerebral - physiology; Drug therapy; Female; Fourier Analysis; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Internal Capsule - drug effects; Internal Capsule - pathology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Nerve Fibers, Myelinated - drug effects; Nerve Fibers, Myelinated - pathology; Neuropharmacology; Neuropsychology; Neuroses; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; obsessive-compulsive disorder; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - diagnosis; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - drug therapy; Obsessive-compulsive disorders; Pharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Thalamus - drug effects; Thalamus - pathology; Human; Obsessive compulsive disorder; diffusion magnetic resonance imaging; Serotonin; Psychotropic; obsessive-compulsive disorder; Anxiety disorder; Diffusion imaging; Reuptake inhibitor; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; White matter; Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; Citalopram; Chemotherapy; Diffusion tensor; Treatment; Neurotransmitter; Medical imagery; Antidepressant agent
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447; 0065-1591
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2007.01046.x

Objective:  The aim was to investigate the white matter abnormalities of drug‐naïve patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) using diffusion tensor‐imaging and the white matter changes in the patients after pharmacotherapy. Method:  Thirteen drug‐naïve OCD patients and 13 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy comparison subjects were examined using diffusion tensor‐imaging and structural magnetic resonance imaging. Measurements were made in OCD patients before and after 12 weeks of citalopram treatment. Results:  Compared with controls, the drug‐naïve OCD patients showed significant increases in fractional anisotropy (FA) in the corpus callosum, the internal capsule and white matter in the area superolateral to the right caudate. The increases in FA were mostly no longer observed in patients after 12 weeks of treatment compared with controls. Conclusion:  Our findings suggest that white matter alterations are associated with the pathophysiology of OCD, and the abnormalities may be partly reversible with pharmacotherapy.