Oligodendrocyte and interneuron density in hippocampal subfields in schizophrenia and association of oligodendrocyte number with cognitive deficits

Abstract

In schizophrenia, previous stereological post-mortem investigations of anterior, posterior, and total hippocampal subfields showed no alterations in total neuron number but did show decreased oligodendrocyte numbers in CA4, an area that corresponds to the polymorph layer of the dentate gyrus (DG). However, these investigations identified oligodendrocytes only on the basis of morphological criteria in Nissl staining and did not assess alterations of interneurons with immunohistochemical markers. Moreover, the association of findings in the posterior hippocampus with cognitive deficits remains unknown. On the basis of the available clinical records, we compared patients with definite and possible cognitive dysfunction; nine patients had evidence in their records of either definite (n = 4) or possible (n = 5) cognitive dysfunction.