Gray matter volumes in obsessive-compulsive disorder before and after fluoxetine or cognitive-behavior therapy: a randomized clinical trial

Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012 Feb;37(3):734-45. doi: 10.1038/npp.2011.250. Epub 2011 Oct 26.

Abstract

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors and cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) are considered first-line treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, little is known about their modulatory effects on regional brain morphology in OCD patients. We sought to document structural brain abnormalities in treatment-naive OCD patients and to determine the effects of pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral treatments on regional brain volumes. Treatment-naive patients with OCD (n=38) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging scan before and after a 12-week randomized clinical trial with either fluoxetine or group CBT. Matched-healthy controls (n=36) were also scanned at baseline. Voxel-based morphometry was used to compare regional gray matter (GM) volumes of regions of interest (ROIs) placed in the orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate and temporolimbic cortices, striatum, and thalamus. Treatment-naive OCD patients presented smaller GM volume in the left putamen, bilateral medial orbitofrontal, and left anterior cingulate cortices than did controls (p<0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). After treatment with either fluoxetine or CBT (n=26), GM volume abnormalities in the left putamen were no longer detectable relative to controls. ROI-based within-group comparisons revealed that GM volume in the left putamen significantly increased (p<0.012) in fluoxetine-treated patients (n=13), whereas no significant GM volume changes were observed in CBT-treated patients (n=13). This study supports the involvement of orbitofronto/cingulo-striatal loops in the pathophysiology of OCD and suggests that fluoxetine and CBT may have distinct neurobiological mechanisms of action.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain / drug effects
  • Brain / pathology*
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy*
  • Female
  • Fluoxetine / therapeutic use*
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / drug therapy
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / pathology*
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / psychology
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / therapy*
  • Organ Size / drug effects
  • Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors
  • Fluoxetine