TITLE:
N-acetyl-l-aspartate values of hippocampus are reduced in patients with hypochondriasis
AUTHORS:
Huseyin Ozdemir, Osman Mermi, M. Gurkan Gurok, Sema Saglam, Hanefi Yildirim, Semih Sec, Specialist Murad Atmaca
KEYWORDS:
Hypochondriasis; NAA/CHO; NAA/CRE; CHO/CRE; MRS
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering,
Vol.6 No.6,
June
27,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: Given that on the one side considerable
similarities between hypochondriasis and obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD) by
means of sharing a number of features, including intrusive thoughts and repeated
checking (Barsky, 1992), on the other side similar structural neuroimaging data
that found hypochondriac patients to have significantly smaller mean left and
right OFC, and greater left thalamus volumes compared to those of healthy
controls. Aims: We considered to investigate the hippocampal neurochemicals,
found changed in OCD patients, in hypochondriac patients. Methods: Fifteen
patients with hypochondriasis, recruited from our out- or in-patient clinics, were compared with 15 healthy
control comparisons in regard to proton magnetic resonance
spectroscopy (1H-MRS) imaging of hippocampus. Results: The patients with hypochondriasis had lower right and left
NAA/CHO, and NAA/CRE, and near-significant lower right CHO/CRE hippocampal
ratios than healthy matched comparison
subjects. Conclusion: The data of the present investigation in patients
with hypochondriasis provide preliminary evidence of lower right and left
NAA/CHO, and NAA/CRE, near-significant lower right CHO/CRE hippocampal ratios,
revealing neurochemical alterations in hippocampus and a further support the notion that hypochondriasis shares a
variety of neurobiological similarities with OCD.