Citation

Gos T, Krell D, Bielau H, Steiner J, Mawrin C, Trübner K, Brisch R, Bernstein HG, Jankowski Z, Bogerts B. J. Affect. Disord. 2009; 118(1-3): 131-138.

Affiliation

Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland. gost@amg.gda.pl

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2009.02.012

PMID

19278730

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim to find the morphological biomarker of disturbed activity of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in depression was approached by the karyometric analysis of pyramidal neurons. METHODS: The study was performed on paraffin-embedded brains from 19 depressed patients from both major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) diagnostic groups, including 9 suicides, and 24 matched controls. The karyometric parameters of medial OFC layer III and V pyramidal neurons bilaterally were evaluated by argyrophilic nucleolar organiser region (AgNOR) silver staining method. RESULTS: The enlarged nuclear area was found in layer V pyramidal neurons in the right OFC in non-suicides compared to suicides and controls, which was most likely the effect of neuroleptics. The intra-group comparisons between the hemispheres suggest the disturbed orbitofrontal lateralisation in depressed patients (predominantly in suicides) with moderate distinctness of the MDD and the BD diagnostic groups. LIMITATIONS: A major limitation of this study is a relatively small number of cases. A further limitation is given by the lack of data on drug exposure across the whole lifespan. CONCLUSION: The results suggest disturbed activity of OFC pyramidal neurons in depression, distinct in suicide and the diagnostic groups of mood disorders. The non-suicidal patients seem to benefit from neuroleptics, which most likely increase the activity of the subpopulation of OFC pyramidal neurons.

Language: en