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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2003) 182: 354-361
© 2003 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Stereological quantitation in cerebella from people with schizophrenia

BIRGITTE BO ANDERSEN, MD and BENTE PAKKENBERG, MD

Research Laboratory for Stereology and Neuroscience, Bispebjerg Unversity Hospital, Copenhagen, and Stereological Research Laboratory, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Correspondence: Birgitte Bo Andersen, Research Laboratory for Stereology and Neuroscience, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark. Tel: +45 3531 6420; fax: +45 3531 6434; e-mail: forsklab{at}bbh.hosp.dk

Declaration of interest This work was supported by the Hartmann Brothers Foundation, the Stanley Foundation and the I. M. K. Almene Fund.

Background Behavioural and anatomical studies in schizophrenia have pointed to cerebellar involvement.

Aims To provide stereological estimations of volumes and cell number in the cerebella of people with schizophrenia and a control group using post-mortem material.

Method Stereological methods were applied to cerebella taken from eight male patients with a DSM—III diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia with no neurological disorder (mean age 57.5 years) and ten male controls (mean age 56.2 years). The Cavalieri principle was used to provide estimates of volumes, the optical disector method to obtain estimates of the numerical density of Purkinje and granule cells, and a combination of the two to obtain estimates of total cell numbers in the cerebellum. The rotator method was applied to obtain estimates of mean Purkinje cell volume.

Results No global structural difference in major volumes, cell numbers of Purkinje cell volume was found between the groups.

Conclusions The most frequently reported pathological finding in the cerebellum in schizophrenia is vermal atrophy, which was not found in this small group of heavily affected patients.


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