Initial findings of striatum tripartite model in OCD brain samples based on transcriptome analysis.
Bianca C G LisboaKatia C OliveiraAna Carolina TahiraAndré Rocha BarbosaArthur Sant'Anna FeltrinGisele GouveiaLuzia LimaAna Cecília Feio Dos SantosDavid Correa MartinsRenato David PugaAriane Cristine MorettoCarlos Alberto De Bragança PereiraBeny LaferRenata Elaine Paraizo LeiteRenata Eloah De Lucena Ferretti-RebustiniJose Marcelo FarfelLea Tenenholz GrinbergWilson Jacob-FilhoEuripedes Constantino MiguelMarcelo Queiroz HoexterHelena BrentaniPublished in: Scientific reports (2019)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by obsessions and/or compulsions. Different striatal subregions belonging to the cortico-striato-thalamic circuitry (CSTC) play an important role in the pathophysiology of OCD. The transcriptomes of 3 separate striatal areas (putamen (PT), caudate nucleus (CN) and accumbens nucleus (NAC)) from postmortem brain tissue were compared between 6 OCD and 8 control cases. In addition to network connectivity deregulation, different biological processes are specific to each striatum region according to the tripartite model of the striatum and contribute in various ways to OCD pathophysiology. Specifically, regulation of neurotransmitter levels and presynaptic processes involved in chemical synaptic transmission were shared between NAC and PT. The Gene Ontology terms cellular response to chemical stimulus, response to external stimulus, response to organic substance, regulation of synaptic plasticity, and modulation of synaptic transmission were shared between CN and PT. Most genes harboring common and/or rare variants previously associated with OCD that were differentially expressed or part of a least preserved coexpression module in our study also suggest striatum subregion specificity. At the transcriptional level, our study supports differences in the 3 circuit CSTC model associated with OCD.