Age-related heterogeneity revealed by disruption of white matter structural networks in patients with first-episode untreated major depressive disorder: WM Network In OA-MDD

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The clinical treatment and prognosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) are limited by the high degree of disease heterogeneity. It is unclear whether there is a potential network mechanism for age-related heterogeneity. We aimed to uncover the heterogeneity of the white matter (WM) network at different ages of onset and its correlation with different symptom characteristics. 85 first-episode MDD patients and 84 corresponding healthy controls (HCs) were recruited and underwent diffusion tensor imaging scans. Structural network characteristics were analyzed using graph theory methods. We observed an accelerated age-related decline of the WM network in MDD patients compared with HCs. Distinct symptom-related networks were identified in three MDD groups with different onset-age. For early-onset MDD (18–29 years; EOD), higher guilt and loss of interest were correlated with the insula, and inferior parietal lobe which in default mode network and salience network. For mid-term-onset MDD (30–44 years; MOD), higher somatic symptoms were correlated with thalamus which in cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical circuit. For later-onset MDD (45–60 years; LOD), poor sleep symptoms were correlated with the caudate in the basal ganglia, which suggests the cingulate operculum network in the control of sleep. These results supported a circuit-based heterogeneity associated with the age of onset in MDD. Understanding this circuit-based heterogeneity might help to develop a new target for clinical treatment strategies.