Abstract
Objectives: With the trend of an aging population, an increasing prevalence of late-life depression has been identified. Several studies demonstrated that iron deposition was significantly related to the severity of symptoms in patients with depression. However, whether brain iron deposits influence depressive symptoms is so far unclear in the community of older adults. We measured iron deposition in deep intracranial nucleus by quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and aimed to explore the relationship between iron deposition and depressive symptoms. Methods: We reviewed the data of a community population from CIRCLE study, which is a single-center prospective observational study that enrolled individuals above 40 years old with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), while free of known dementia or stroke. We evaluated regional iron deposits on QSM, measured the volume of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on T2 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, and assessed depressive symptoms by Hamilton depression scale (HDRS). We defined depressive symptom as HDRS > 7. Results: A total of 185 participants were enrolled. Participants in depressive symptom group had higher QSM value in thalamus than control group (18.79 ± 14.94 vs 13.29 ± 7.64, p = 0.003). The QSM value in the thalamus was an independent factor for the presence of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.055; 95% CI: 1.011-1.100; p = 0.013). The regional QSM values in other areas were not associated with HDRS score (all p > 0.05). No significant correlations were observed between WMHs volume and HDRS score (p > 0.05), or regional QSM values and WMHs volume (all p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that iron deposits in the thalamus were related to the depressive symptoms in older adults.
Highlights
With the trend of an aging population, an increasing prevalence of late-life depression has been identified
The quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) value in the thalamus was an independent factor for the presence of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.055; 95% CI: 1.011-1.100; p = 0.013)
The regional QSM values in other areas were not associated with Hamilton depression scale (HDRS) score
Summary
With the trend of an aging population, an increasing prevalence of late-life depression has been identified. The devastating effects of depression in older adults have been reported, including increases in suicide, hastened cognitive decline, worsening physical comorbidities, higher caregiver burden and all-cause mortality [1, 2]. The mechanism of depression in older adults remains uncertain. Studies have indicated that increased iron deposits in the deep gray matter of the brain are closely related to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [5]. Recent studies show that increased intracranial iron deposits are associated with emotional behaviors among PD patients, especially depression [6]. We presume that in older adults, brain iron deposits might be related to depressive symptoms
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