Alcohol Dependence-Related Increase of Glial Cell Density in the Anterior Cigulate Cortex of Suicide Completers

The authors investigated cell densities & sizes in BA24 among 13 suicide victims & 13 matched sudden-death controls. A 1-cubic centimetre tissue block from BA24a of the supracallosal ACC in 26 postmortem brain specimens were examined. Glial densities neuronal densities & soma sizes measured in BA24a did not differ significantly between controls & suicide victims. Secondary analyses showed a significant & robust increase in glial cell densitities in BA24A of alcohol-dependent depressed suicide victims compared with depressed suicide victims who were not alcohol dependent. (52 refs.)