High-field magnetic resonance imaging of structural alterations in first-episode, drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder

Z Chen; W Peng; H SUN; W Kuang; W Li; Z Jia; Q GONG

doi:10.1038/tp.2016.209

journal article Open Access Nov 08, 2016

High-field magnetic resonance imaging of structural alterations in first-episode, drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder

Z Chen W Peng H SUN W Kuang W Li Z Jia Q GONG

Translational Psychiatry Vol. 6 No. 11 pp. e942-e942 · Springer Science and Business Media LLC

View at Publisher Save 10.1038/tp.2016.209

Abstract

AbstractPrevious structural imaging studies have found evidence of brain morphometric changes in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), but these studies rarely excluded compounding effects of certain important factors, such as medications and long duration of illnesses. Furthermore, the neurobiological mechanism of the macroscopic findings of structural alterations in MDD patients remains unclear. In this study, we utilized magnetization transfer imaging, a quantitative measure of the macromolecular structural integrity of brain tissue, to identify biophysical alterations, which are represented by a magnetization transfer ratio (MTR), in MDD patients. To ascertain whether MTR changes occur independent of volume loss, we also conduct voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. The participants included 27 first-episode, drug-naive MDD patients and 28 healthy controls matched for age and gender. Whole-brain voxel-based analysis was used to compare MTR and gray matter volume across groups and to analyse correlations between MTR and age, symptom severity, and illness duration. The patients exhibited significantly lower MTR in the left superior parietal lobule and left middle occipital gyrus compared with healthy controls, which may be related to the attentional and cognitive dysfunction in MDD patients. The VBM analysis revealed significantly increased gray matter volume in right postcentral gyrus in MDD patients. These findings in first-episode, drug-naive MDD patients may reflect microstructural gray matter changes in the parietal and occipital cortices close to illness onset that existed before volume loss, and thus potentially provide important new insight into the early neurobiology of depression.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

67

[1]

Jia Z, Huang X, Wu Q, Zhang T, Lui S, Zhang J et al. High-field magnetic resonance imaging of suicidality in patients with major depressive disorder. Am J Psychiatry 2010; 167: 1381–1390. 10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.09101513

[2]

Scheuerecker J, Meisenzahl EM, Koutsouleris N, Roesner M, Schopf V, Linn J et al. Orbitofrontal volume reductions during emotion recognition in patients with major depression. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2010; 35: 311–320. 10.1503/jpn.090076

[3]

Salvadore G, Nugent AC, Lemaitre H, Luckenbaugh DA, Tinsley R, Cannon DM et al. Prefrontal cortical abnormalities in currently depressed versus currently remitted patients with major depressive disorder. NeuroImage 2011; 54: 2643–2651. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.011

[4]

Schmaal L, Hibar DP, Samann PG, Hall GB, Baune BT, Jahanshad N et al. Cortical abnormalities in adults and adolescents with major depression based on brain scans from 20 cohorts worldwide in the ENIGMA Major Depressive Disorder Working Group. Mol Psychiatry 2016 e-pub ahead of print 3 May 2016;doi:10.1038/mp.2016.60. 10.1038/mp.2016.60

[5]

Tang Y, Wang F, Xie G, Liu J, Li L, Su L et al. Reduced ventral anterior cingulate and amygdala volumes in medication-naive females with major depressive disorder: a voxel-based morphometric magnetic resonance imaging study. Psychiatry Res 2007; 156: 83–86. 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.03.005

[6]

Alexopoulos GS . Frontostriatal and limbic dysfunction in late-life depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2002; 10: 687–695. 10.1097/00019442-200211000-00007

[7]

Zou K, Deng W, Li T, Zhang B, Jiang L, Huang C et al. Changes of brain morphometry in first-episode, drug-naive, non-late-life adult patients with major depression: an optimized voxel-based morphometry study. Biol Psychiatry 2010; 67: 186–188. 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.014

[8]

Yuan Y, Zhang Z, Bai F, Yu H, You J, Shi Y et al. Larger regional white matter volume is associated with executive function deficit in remitted geriatric depression: an optimized voxel-based morphometry study. J Affect Disord 2009; 115: 225–229. 10.1016/j.jad.2008.09.018

[9]

Thomas AJ, O'Brien JT, Barber R, McMeekin W, Perry R . A neuropathological study of periventricular white matter hyperintensities in major depression. J Affect Disord 2003; 76: 49–54. 10.1016/s0165-0327(02)00064-2

[10]

Dalby RB, Chakravarty MM, Ahdidan J, Sorensen L, Frandsen J, Jonsdottir KY et al. Localization of white-matter lesions and effect of vascular risk factors in late-onset major depression. Psychol Med 2010; 40: 1389–1399. 10.1017/s0033291709991656

[11]

Agarwal N, Port JD, Bazzocchi M, Renshaw PF . Update on the use of MR for assessment and diagnosis of psychiatric diseases. Radiology 2010; 255: 23–41. 10.1148/radiol.09090339

[12]

Deschwanden A, Karolewicz B, Feyissa AM, Treyer V, Ametamey SM, Johayem A et al. Reduced metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 density in major depression determined by [(11)C]ABP688 PET and postmortem study. Am J Psychiatry 2011; 168: 727–734. 10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.09111607

[13]

Rajkowska G, Miguel-Hidalgo JJ, Wei J, Dilley G, Pittman SD, Meltzer HY et al. Morphometric evidence for neuronal and glial prefrontal cell pathology in major depression. Biol Psychiatry 1999; 45: 1085–1098. 10.1016/s0006-3223(99)00041-4

[14]

Rajkowska G . Postmortem studies in mood disorders indicate altered numbers of neurons and glial cells. Biol Psychiatry 2000; 48: 766–777. 10.1016/s0006-3223(00)00950-1

[15]

Cotter D, Mackay D, Landau S, Kerwin R, Everall I . Reduced glial cell density and neuronal size in the anterior cingulate cortex in major depressive disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2001; 58: 545–553. 10.1001/archpsyc.58.6.545

[16]

Cotter D, Mackay D, Chana G, Beasley C, Landau S, Everall IP . Reduced neuronal size and glial cell density in area 9 of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in subjects with major depressive disorder. Cereb Cortex 2002; 12: 386–394. 10.1093/cercor/12.4.386

[17]

Foong J, Symms MR, Barker GJ, Maier M, Woermann FG, Miller DH et al. Neuropathological abnormalities in schizophrenia: evidence from magnetization transfer imaging. Brain 2001; 124: 882–892. 10.1093/brain/124.5.882

[18]

Bagary MS, Symms MR, Barker GJ, Mutsatsa SH, Joyce EM, Ron MA . Gray and white matter brain abnormalities in first-episode schizophrenia inferred from magnetization transfer imaging. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003; 60: 779–788. 10.1001/archpsyc.60.8.779

[19]

Magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) and tissue water proton relaxation in vivo

Steven D. Wolff, Robert S. Balaban

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 1989 10.1002/mrm.1910100113

[20]

Zhang TJ, Wu QZ, Huang XQ, Sun XL, Zou K, Lui S et al. Magnetization transfer imaging reveals the brain deficit in patients with treatment-refractory depression. J Affect Disord 2009; 117: 157–161. 10.1016/j.jad.2009.01.003

[21]

Kumar A, Gupta RC, Albert Thomas M, Alger J, Wyckoff N, Hwang S . Biophysical changes in normal-appearing white matter and subcortical nuclei in late-life major depression detected using magnetization transfer. Psychiatry Res 2004; 130: 131–140. 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2003.12.002

[22]

Kumar A, Yang S, Ajilore O, Wu M, Charlton R, Lamar M . Subcortical biophysical abnormalities in patients with mood disorders. Mol Psychiatry 2014; 19: 710–716. 10.1038/mp.2013.84

[23]

Chen Z, Zhang H, Jia Z, Zhong J, Huang X, Du M et al. Magnetization transfer imaging of suicidal patients with major depressive disorder. Sci Rep 2015; 5: 9670. 10.1038/srep09670

[24]

Kubicki M, Park H, Westin CF, Nestor PG, Mulkern RV, Maier SE et al. DTI and MTR abnormalities in schizophrenia: analysis of white matter integrity. NeuroImage 2005; 26: 1109–1118. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.03.026

[25]

Ge Y, Grossman RI, Udupa JK, Babb JS, Mannon LJ, McGowan JC . Magnetization transfer ratio histogram analysis of normal-appearing gray matter and normal-appearing white matter in multiple sclerosis. J Comput Assist Tomogr 2002; 26: 62–68. 10.1097/00004728-200201000-00009

[26]

Liu Z, Pardini M, Yaldizli O, Sethi V, Muhlert N, Wheeler-Kingshott CA et al. Magnetization transfer ratio measures in normal-appearing white matter show periventricular gradient abnormalities in multiple sclerosis. Brain 2015; 138: 1239–1246. 10.1093/brain/awv065

[27]

Kumar A, Gupta R, Thomas A, Ajilore O, Hellemann G . Focal subcortical biophysical abnormalities in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2009; 66: 324–330. 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2008.548

[28]

First M, Gibbon M, Spitzer R, Williams J, Benjamin L . Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders-Clinician Version (SCID-CV). American Psychiatric Publishing: Washington, DC, USA, 1997.

[29]

Hamilton M . Development of a rating scale for primary depressive illness. Br J Soc Clin Psychol 1967; 6: 278–296. 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1967.tb00530.x

[30]

Fast robust automated brain extraction

Stephen M. Smith

Human Brain Mapping 2002 10.1002/hbm.10062

[31]

Song XW, Dong ZY, Long XY, Li SF, Zuo XN, Zhu CZ et al. REST: a toolkit for resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data processing. PLoS One 2011; 6: e25031. 10.1371/journal.pone.0025031

[32]

Sheline YI . Neuroimaging studies of mood disorder effects on the brain. Biol Psychiatry 2003; 54: 338–352. 10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00347-0

[33]

Brain structural and functional abnormalities in mood disorders: implications for neurocircuitry models of depression

Wayne C. Drevets, Joseph L. Price, Maura L. Furey

Brain Structure and Function 2008 10.1007/s00429-008-0189-x

[34]

Graham J, Salimi-Khorshidi G, Hagan C, Walsh N, Goodyer I, Lennox B et al. Meta-analytic evidence for neuroimaging models of depression: state or trait? J Affect Disord 2013; 151: 423–431. 10.1016/j.jad.2013.07.002

[35]

An automated labeling system for subdividing the human cerebral cortex on MRI scans into gyral based regions of interest

Rahul S. Desikan, Florent Ségonne, Bruce Fischl et al.

NeuroImage 2006 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.01.021

[36]

User-guided 3D active contour segmentation of anatomical structures: Significantly improved efficiency and reliability

Paul A. Yushkevich, Joseph Piven, Heather Cody Hazlett et al.

NeuroImage 2006 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.01.015

[37]

A fast diffeomorphic image registration algorithm

John Ashburner

NeuroImage 2007 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.07.007

[38]

Barkovich AJ . Concepts of myelin and myelination in neuroradiology. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2000; 21: 1099–1109.

[39]

Khaleeli Z, Altmann DR, Cercignani M, Ciccarelli O, Miller DH, Thompson AJ . Magnetization transfer ratio in gray matter: a potential surrogate marker for progression in early primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Arch Neurol 2008; 65: 1454–1459. 10.1001/archneur.65.11.1454

[40]

Audoin B, Davies G, Rashid W, Fisniku L, Thompson AJ, Miller DH . Voxel-based analysis of grey matter magnetization transfer ratio maps in early relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler 2007; 13: 483–489. 10.1177/1352458506070450

[41]

Derakhshan M, Caramanos Z, Narayanan S, Arnold DL, Louis Collins D . Surface-based analysis reveals regions of reduced cortical magnetization transfer ratio in patients with multiple sclerosis: a proposed method for imaging subpial demyelination. Hum Brain Mapp 2014; 35: 3402–3413. 10.1002/hbm.22410

[42]

Moll NM, Rietsch AM, Thomas S, Ransohoff AJ, Lee JC, Fox R et al. Multiple sclerosis normal-appearing white matter: pathology-imaging correlations. Ann Neurol 2011; 70: 764–773. 10.1002/ana.22521

[43]

Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain

Maurizio Corbetta, Gordon L. Shulman

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2002 10.1038/nrn755

[44]

Pessoa L, Kastner S, Ungerleider LG . Neuroimaging studies of attention: from modulation of sensory processing to top-down control. J Neurosci 2003; 23: 3990–3998. 10.1523/jneurosci.23-10-03990.2003

[45]

Culham JC, Kanwisher NG . Neuroimaging of cognitive functions in human parietal cortex. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2001; 11: 157–163. 10.1016/s0959-4388(00)00191-4

[46]

Yantis S, Schwarzbach J, Serences JT, Carlson RL, Steinmetz MA, Pekar JJ et al. Transient neural activity in human parietal cortex during spatial attention shifts. Nat Neurosci 2002; 5: 995–1002. 10.1038/nn921

[47]

Yantis S, Serences JT . Cortical mechanisms of space-based and object-based attentional control. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2003; 13: 187–193. 10.1016/s0959-4388(03)00033-3

[48]

Inkster B, Rao AW, Ridler K, Nichols TE, Saemann PG, Auer DP et al. Structural brain changes in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder presenting with anxiety symptoms. J Neuroimaging 2011; 21: 375–382. 10.1111/j.1552-6569.2010.00515.x

[49]

Wang L, Li K, Zhang Q, Zeng Y, Dai W, Su Y et al. Short-term effects of escitalopram on regional brain function in first-episode drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder assessed by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Psychol Med 2014; 44: 1417–1426. 10.1017/s0033291713002031

[50]

Jiang W, Yin Z, Pang Y, Wu F, Kong L, Xu K . Brain functional changes in facial expression recognition in patients with major depressive disorder before and after antidepressant treatment: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neural Regen Res 2012; 7: 1151–1157.

Showing 50 of 67 references

Cited By

69

Altered local spontaneous activity and functional connectivity density in major depressive disorder patients with anhedonia

Congchong Wu, Qingli Mu · 2025

Asian Journal of Psychiatry

Reduced Brain Gray Matter Volume in Patients With First-Episode Major Depressive Disorder: A Quantitative Meta-Analysis

Ruiping Zheng, Yong Zhang · 2021

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Metrics

69

Citations

67

References

Details

Published: Nov 08, 2016
Vol/Issue: 6(11)
Pages: e942-e942
License: View

Authors

Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Cite This Article

Z Chen, W Peng, H SUN, et al. (2016). High-field magnetic resonance imaging of structural alterations in first-episode, drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder. Translational Psychiatry, 6(11), e942-e942. https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2016.209

High-field magnetic resonance imaging of structural alterations in first-episode, drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder

You May Also Like