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A novel, rapid, quantitative cell-counting method reveals oligodendroglial reduction in the frontopolar cortex in major depressive disorder

Molecular Psychiatry volume 16, pages 1156–1158 (2011)Cite this article

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The neuropathology of psychiatric disorders has long been of interest in psychiatry. However, only a small number of three-dimensional quantitative studies have been conducted, partly because the stereological techniques often used for such investigations are hampered by intrinsically low throughput, typically requiring long periods of time to complete.

Conventional Nissl, rather than immunohistochemical, staining has generally been employed in these studies, as it offers several advantages: ease and familiarity of use, and robustness across a range of fixation and processing conditions. The fact that the Nissl method stains both neurons and glia is often advantageous, but it is also disadvantageous in that small neurons may be misclassified as glia, or vice versa. Furthermore, in the gray matter of the adult human cortex, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes (OLs), oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) and microglia form the four major glial subtypes,1 whereas oligodendroglial cells (OLs and OPCs) may represent potential abnormal glial subtypes in psychiatric disorders, especially in mood disorders.2, 3, 4

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Affective Disorders Research Team, Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders Research Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan

    Y Hayashi, N Nihonmatsu-Kikuchi, X Yu, K Ishimoto & Y Tatebayashi

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan

    Y Hayashi, K Ishimoto & S-i Hisanaga

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  1. Y Hayashi
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  2. N Nihonmatsu-Kikuchi
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  3. X Yu
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  4. K Ishimoto
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  6. Y Tatebayashi
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Correspondence to Y Tatebayashi.

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Hayashi, Y., Nihonmatsu-Kikuchi, N., Yu, X. et al. A novel, rapid, quantitative cell-counting method reveals oligodendroglial reduction in the frontopolar cortex in major depressive disorder. Mol Psychiatry 16, 1156–1158 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.84

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