The alterations of brain in white matter in drug-naive patients with obsessive-compulsive disorders:a preliminary study

Objective To investigate the abnormality of white matter volume in drug-naive patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.Methods The study included twenty-three patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD) who met with the American psychiatric association diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder the fourth edition(DSM-Ⅳ)and twenty-three age-,sex-and education-matched normal controls.Each participant received whole brain scans using GE Signa TwinSpeed 1.5T MR system.The 3D brain structural MRI images were constructed after MRI scan.The difference in white matter volume between patients and controls was analyzed using voxel-based morphometry method(VBM).Small volume correction(SVC) was used to adjust P value for those regions with voxel size less than 200 and P less than 0.005.The SVC adjusted P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results Compared with the normal controls,OCD patients had significant increased white matter volumes in the right precentral gyrus,right postcentral gyrus,left precuneus,right precuneus and left middle occipital gyrus(P0.05,small volume correction),while had significant decreased white matter volumes in the right superior frontal gyrus,left superior frontal gyrus,left postcentral gyrus,left parahippocampal gyrus/corpus callosum and right inferior lobule(P0.05,small volume correction).Conclusions These preliminary findings demonstrate obvious increase or decrease of white matter volume in the drug-naive patients with OCD.