title: Decreased Oligodendrocyte and Neuron Number in Anterior Hippocampal Areas and the Entire Hippocampus in Schizophrenia: A Stereological Postmortem Study.
abstract: The hippocampus is involved in cognition as well as emotion, with deficits in both domains consistently described in schizophrenia. Moreover, the whole volumes of both the anterior and posterior region have been reported to be decreased in schizophrenia patients. While fewer oligodendrocyte numbers in the left and right cornu ammonis CA4 subregion of the posterior part of the hippocampus have been reported, the aim of this stereological study was to investigate cell numbers in either the dentate gyrus (DG) or subregions of the anterior hippocampus. In this design-based stereological study of the anterior part of the hippocampus comparing 10 patients with schizophrenia to 10 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were examined. Patients showed a decreased number of oligodendrocytes in the left CA4, fewer neurons in the left DG and smaller volumes in both the left CA4 and DG, which correlated with oligodendrocyte and neuron numbers, respectively. When exploring the total hippocampus, keeping previously published own results from the posterior part of the same brains in mind, both decreased oligodendrocyte numbers in the left CA4 and reduced volume remained significant. The decreased oligodendrocyte number speaks for a deficit in myelination and connectivity in schizophrenia which may originate from disturbed maturational processes. The reduced neuron number of the DG in the anterior hippocampus may well point to a reduced capacity of this region to produce new neurons up to adulthood. Both mechanisms may be involved in cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany; These authors contributed equally to the article.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Falkai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany; These authors contributed equally to the article.
authors.forename: Berend
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Malchow
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany;
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wetzestein
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany;
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nowastowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Hans-Gert
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany;
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schneider-Axmann
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuropathology and Prion Research (ZNP), Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany;
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany;
authors.forename: Alkomiet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bogerts
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroanatomy, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany;
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany; Laboratory of Neuroscience (LIM27), Institute of Psychiatry, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Andrea.Schmitt@med.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmitt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001344:Autopsy; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000473:pathology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D014015:Tissue Banks
keywords: dentate gyrus; hippocampus; neurons; oligodendrocytes; postmortem; schizophrenia; stereology