Wayne State University and Children’s Hospital of Michigan Research Team Discover Chemical That Plays a Major Role in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Faculty from the
OCD is a debilitating neuropsychiatric condition that affects approximately 1 to 3 percent of the population worldwide. As many as 80 percent of all OCD cases begin in childhood and adolescence. In Rosenberg’s study, children with OCD had abnormal glutamate levels in key brain regions which were reversible with effective treatment.
“Since our initial findings at
The studies found significant associations between glutamate receptor and transporter genes and abnormal brain volumes in brain regions implicated in OCD such as the thalamus (‘grand central station’ in the brain), caudate nucleus (brain’s secretary), anterior cingulate cortex (brain’s arousal center) and orbital prefrontal cortex (brain’s executive decision maker).
This work showing glutamate abnormalities in OCD has significant treatment implications. Based in part on initial findings at
“This study at NIMH demonstrates how work first done at
To view the full paper, visit: http://www.springerlink.com/content/c42277h73t771742/?p=ef3e9b3519a845bf86e6fd8575b58696&pi=0
A second paper was recently published online and will be available in the May issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging by the same team of researchers. This paper continues the team’s study of pediatric OCD patients is the first published report examining the relationship between genetic variation and a neurochemical phenotype in OCD. This study found that there is a significant association between variation in a key glutamate receptor gene and glutamate levels in the brain’s arousal center, the anterior cingulate cortex. No association was found between genetic markers and brain imaging measures in brain regions not implicated in the pathology of OCD.
To view the full paper, visit: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TBW-4VXCFYB-4&_user=147018&_coverDate=05%2F15%2F2009&_alid=907180169&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=5153&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=4&_acct=C000012179&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=147018&md5=6f229103592ce48e2cd701b2e81d6986
Along with Rosenberg, collaborators on the projects include