Sistema FMUSP-HC: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP) e Hospital das Clínicas da FMUSPOLIVEIRA, Katia Cristina deGRINBERG, Lea TenenholzHOEXTER, Marcelo QueirozBRENTANI, HelenaSUEMOTO, Claudia KimieNERY, Fabiano GoncalvesLIMA, Luzia CarreiraALHO, Ana Tereza Di LorenzoFARFEL, Jose MarceloFERRETTI-REBUSTINI, Renata Eloah de LucenaLEITE, Renata Elaine ParaizoMORETTO, Ariane CristineSILVA, Alexandre Valotta daLAFER, BenyMIGUEL, Euripedes ConstantinoNITRINI, RicardoJACOB-FILHO, WilsonHEINSEN, HelmutPASQUALUCCI, Carlos Augusto2019-03-262019-03-262019BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION, v.224, n.1, p.191-203, 20191863-2653https://observatorio.fm.usp.br/handle/OPI/31211Neurobiological models have provided consistent evidence of the involvement of cortical-subcortical circuitry in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), involved in motivation and emotional responses, is an important regulatory node within this circuitry. However, OFC abnormalities at the cellular level have so far not been studied. To address this question, we have recruited a total of seven senior individuals from the Sao Paulo Autopsy Services who were diagnosed with OCD after an extensive post-mortem clinical evaluation with their next of kin. Patients with cognitive impairment were excluded. The OCD cases were age- and sex-matched with 7 control cases and a total of 14 formalin-fixed, serially cut, and gallocyanin-stained hemispheres (7 subjects with OCD and 7 controls) were analyzed stereologically. We estimated laminar neuronal density, volume of the anteromedial (AM), medial orbitofrontal (MO), and anterolateral (AL) areas of the OFC. We found statistically significant layer- and region-specific lower neuron densities in our OCD cases that added to a deficit of 25% in AM and AL and to a deficit of 21% in MO, respectively. The volumes of the OFC areas were similar between the OCD and control groups. These results provide evidence of complex layer and region-specific neuronal deficits/loss in old OCD cases which could have a considerable impact on information processing within orbitofrontal regions and with afferent and efferent targets.engrestrictedAccessHuman brainCerebral cortexCell countBiomedical researchObsessive-compulsive disorderObsessive-compulsive symptomsstructured clinical interviewthalamic mediodorsal nucleusgray-matter abnormalitiesgenome-wide associationvoxel-based morphometrynerve-cell lossprefrontal cortexbipolar disordernumbercytoarchitecturearticleCopyright SPRINGER HEIDELBERG10.1007/s00429-018-1752-8Anatomy & MorphologyNeurosciences1863-2661