• H Kitamura, T Shioiri, T Kimura, M Ohkubo, T Nakada, and T Someya.
• Department of Psychiatry, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan. kitamura@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
• Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2006 Aug 1; 114 (2): 101-8.

ObjectiveTo identify a neurochemical basis for the hypothesis that an aberrant cortico-subcortical circuit underlies obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The white matter was also investigated because of recent research which suggests the altered connectivity of axons.MethodUsing 3-Tesla magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the relative concentrations of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and choline-containing compounds (Cho) to creatine/phosphocreatine (Cr) were measured in the anterior cingulate, basal ganglia, thalamus, frontal and parietal white matter of 12 OCD patients, and 32 control subjects.ResultsThe mean concentration of Cho/Cr was significantly higher in the patients than in the controls, but only in the parietal white matter, while no significant group differences in NAA/Cr were observed in any of the brain regions. Parietal Cho/Cr correlated positively with the severity of OCD symptoms.ConclusionThis finding provides indirect evidence for the parietal white matter involvement in OCD, thus suggesting a change in the phospholipids of myelinated axons and/or glia cells.

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