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Cerebral vascular burden on hippocampal subfields in first-onset drug-naïve subjects with late-onset depression
Woo Hee Choi1, Won Sang Jung2, Yoo Hyun Um3
1Department of Radiology, Division of Nuclear Medicine The Saint Vincent Hospital, The College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Republic of Korea.
Insights
Late-onset depression (LOD) is associated with reduced hippocampal volumes, particularly in CA1, CA3, and DG areas. Cerebral vascular burden, measured by white matter hyperintensity (WMH), shows negative correlations with hippocampal subfield volumes in LOD patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Radiology
Background:
- Late-onset depression (LOD) shows known links between frontal-striatal circuits and cerebral vascular burden.
- The specific relationship between vascular burden and hippocampal subfields in LOD remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations between cerebral vascular burden and hippocampal subfield volumes in patients with LOD.
Main Methods:
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to scan 50 LOD patients and 50 healthy controls.
- Hippocampal subfield volumes were measured and compared between groups.
- Associations between white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes, clinical measures, and hippocampal subfield volumes were analyzed in the LOD group.
Main Results:
- LOD patients exhibited reduced volumes in the total hippocampus, cornu ammonis (CA) 1 and 3, and dentate gyrus (DG) compared to controls.
- Total WMH volume was negatively correlated with left hippocampal volume and CA1 in LOD patients.
- Depression severity was negatively associated with left and right CA3 volumes in LOD patients.
Conclusions:
- This study reveals distinct associations between hippocampal subfield volumes and cerebral vascular burden in LOD.
- Structural changes in hippocampal CA1, CA3, and DG areas may underlie hippocampal dysfunction in LOD.
- Longitudinal studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms driving these structural changes.
Background:
Although there is substantial evidence of associations between frontal-striatal circuits and cerebral vascular burden in late-onset depression (LOD), relationships between vascular burden and hippocampal subfields are not clear. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between cerebral vascular burden and hippocampal subfield volume in LOD patients.
Methods:
Fifty subjects with LOD and 50 group-matched healthy control subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Hippocampal subfields volumes were measured and compared between the groups. In addition, association patterns between white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volumes, clinical measures and hippocampal subfield volumes were investigated in the LOD group.
Results:
Subjects with LOD exhibited significant hippocampal volume reductions in the total hippocampus, cornu ammonis (CA) 1 and 3 and dentate gyrus (DG) areas compared with healthy subjects. Total WMH volume was negatively correlated with left total hippocampal volume and CA1 in the LOD group. In addition, depression severity was negatively associated with left and right CA3 volumes in the LOD group.
Limitation:
Our findings of distinctive relationships between WMH and hippocampal subfields demonstrate a simple correlation, but do not prove causation CONCLUSION: This study is the first to elaborate distinctive association patterns between hippocampal subfield volumes and cerebral vascular burden in LOD. These structural changes in the hippocampal CA1, CA3 and DG areas might be at the core of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of hippocampal dysfunction in LOD. However, longitudinal studies will be needed to identify the mechanisms of these structural changes.
