Cerebral blood flow changes in remitted early- and late-onset depression patients.

Wenxiang Liao,Zhijun Zhang,Duan Liu,Hao Shu,Ze Wang,Xiangrong Zhang,Zan Wang

doi:10.18632/oncotarget.19185

Abstract

Abnormal cerebral blood flow (CBF) is reportedly associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). We have investigated CBF changes in early-onset depression (EOD) and late-onset depression (LOD), and their impact on cognitive function. Thirty-two remitted EOD patients, 32 remitted LOD patients, and 43 age-matched healthy controls were recruited, and the pulsed arterial spin labeling data were scanned under 3.0T MRI and processed through voxel-by-voxel statistical analysis. Compared to healthy controls, LOD patients had decreased normalized CBF in the bilateral precuneus, cuneus, right fronto-cingulate-striatal areas, and right temporal, occipital and parietal lobes, but increased normalized CBF in the left frontal and temporal cortices and the cingulate gyrus. EOD patients had decreased normalized CBF in the left cerebellum and right calcarine/lingual/fusiform gyrus, and increased normalized CBF in right angular gyrus. LOD patients displayed hemispheric asymmetry in CBF, and had more regions with abnormal CBF than EOD patients. A significant correlation between abnormal CBF and impaired cognitive function was detected in LOD patients, but not EOD patients. These results demonstrate greater CBF abnormalities in LOD patients than EOD patients, and suggest these CBF changes may be associated with progressive degradation of cognitive function in LOD patients.

Highlights

Late life depression (LLD) is a common mood disorder with a pervasive and persistent low mood in elderly people (60 years or older)
There were no significant differences in gender, age, years of education, and the results of the TMT-A test among the late-onset depression (LOD), early-onset depression (EOD), and healthy controls (HC) groups
Both LOD and EOD patients performed significantly worse on Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD), auditory verbal learning test-delay recall (AVLT-DR), Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test-delay recall (ROCFDR), and semantic similarity test when compared with healthy controls

Summary

Introduction

Late life depression (LLD) is a common mood disorder with a pervasive and persistent low mood in elderly people (60 years or older). It is invariably accompanied by multiple neuropsychology impairments and abnormal neuroimaging results [1,2,3]. Relative to EOD patients, LOD patients have shown more vascular changes [6, 7], greater cognitive impairments [8, 9] hippocampal atrophy [10, 11], and higher risk of dementia [12]. Cerebrovascular changes contribute to the development of depressive symptoms in patients with late life depression [13]

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Results

Conclusion