Prominent Reduction in Pyramidal Neurons Density in the Orbitofrontal Cortex of Elderly Depressed Patients

Elderly depressed patients have more vascular hyperintensities in frontal white matter and basal ganglia than elderly control subjects. Cell pathology that might be related to increased vascular hyperintensities has not been examined. Postmortem samples from the orbitofrontal cortex (ORB) were colle...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological psychiatry (1969) Vol. 58; no. 4; pp. 297 - 306
Main Authors: Rajkowska, Grazyna, Miguel-Hidalgo, Jose Javier, Dubey, Priti, Stockmeier, Craig A., Krishnan, K. Ranga Rama
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 15.08.2005
Elsevier Science
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Age Factors
Age of Onset
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
aging
Biological and medical sciences
Cell Count - methods
Demography
Depression
Depressive Disorder - pathology
Female
Frontal Lobe - pathology
Geriatric Psychiatry
glial cells
Humans
late-life depression
major depression
Male
Medical sciences
Mood disorders
morphometry
Neuroglia - metabolism
Neuroglia - pathology
Postmortem
Postmortem Changes
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Pyramidal Cells - metabolism
Pyramidal Cells - pathology
glial cells
morphometry
late-life depression
aging
major depression
Postmortem
Human
Mood disorder
Glial cell
Orbitofrontal cortex
Senescence
Neuroglia
Central nervous system
Depression
Density
Encephalon
Morphometry
Pyramidal neuron
Elderly
ISSN:0006-3223, 1873-2402
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Elderly depressed patients have more vascular hyperintensities in frontal white matter and basal ganglia than elderly control subjects. Cell pathology that might be related to increased vascular hyperintensities has not been examined. Postmortem samples from the orbitofrontal cortex (ORB) were collected in 15 elderly subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 11 age-matched control subjects. Cell packing density of neurons and glia, density of pyramidal and nonpyramidal neurons, and cortical and laminar width were measured. The overall (layers I–VI) packing density of ORB neurons with pyramidal morphology was markedly decreased in MDD (by 30%) as compared with control subjects. Further laminar analysis of pyramidal neurons density revealed significant reductions in layers IIIc and V in MDD. In contrast, in MDD the density of nonpyramidal neurons and glia and cortical and laminar width were comparable to control values. In elderly subjects with depression, the density of pyramidal neurons in the ORB was particularly low in cortical layers V and III, the origin of prefronto-striatal and prefronto-cortical and prefronto-amygdalar projections. Degeneration of neurons furnishing these projections might be related to the white matter hyperintensities previously observed. Neuronal pathology seems to be more severe in elderly than in younger subjects with MDD.
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ISSN:0006-3223
1873-2402
DOI:10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.04.013