Perivascular spaces as a marker of psychological trauma in depression: A 7-Tesla MRI study
Daniel L Ranti1, Andrew J Warburton1, John W Rutland1
1BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Introduction:
Emerging evidence in depression suggests that blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown and elevated inflammatory cytokines in states of persistent stress or trauma may contribute to the development of symptoms. Signal-to-noise ratio afforded by ultra-high field MRI may aid in the detection of maladaptations of the glymphatic system related to BBB integrity that may not be visualized at lower field strengths.
Methods:
We investigated the link between glymphatic neuroanatomy via perivascular spaces (PVS) and trauma experience in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and in healthy controls using 7-Tesla MRI and a semi-automated segmentation algorithm.
Results:
After controlling for age and gender, the number of traumatic events was correlated with total PVS volume in MDD patients (r = 0.50, p = .028) and the overall population (r = 0.34, p = .024). The number of traumatic events eliciting horror was positively correlated with total PVS volume in MDD patients (r = 0.50, p = .030) and the overall population (r = 0.32, p = .023). Age correlated positively with PVS count, PVS total volume, and PVS density in all participants (r > 0.35, p < .01).
Conclusions:
These results suggest a relationship between glymphatic dysfunction related to BBB integrity and psychological trauma, and that glymphatic impairment may play a role in trauma-related symptomatology.
