Open AccessInjuries in Left Corticospinal Tracts, Forceps Major, and Left Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (Temporal) as the Quality Indicators for Major Depressive Disorder
Author(s) -
Ziwei Liu,
Lijun Kang,
Aixia Zhang,
Chunxia Yang,
Min Liu,
Jizhi Wang,
Penghong Liu,
Kerang Zhang,
Ning Sun
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
neural plasticity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.288
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 2090-5904
pISSN - 1687-5443
DOI - 10.1155/2021/2348072
Subject(s) - fractional anisotropy , major depressive disorder , superior longitudinal fasciculus , first degree relatives , psychology , fasciculus , medicine , white matter , cardiology , medial longitudinal fasciculus , psychiatry , family history , cognition , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging , central nervous system , midbrain
At present, the etiology and pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD) are still not clear. Studies have found that the risk of first-degree relatives of MDD is 2–3 times that of the general population. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been previously used to explore the pathogenesis of MDD. The purpose of this study is to explore the etiology of MDD by DTI and further to explore the correlation between its clinical characteristics and the structural changes of white matter in the brain. The study included 27 first-episode, drug-naive patients with MDD, 16 first-degree relatives without MDD, and 28 healthy control subjects with no family history of MDD (HC). Results showed that the fractional anisotropy (FA) differences among the three groups were mainly in the left anterior thalamic radiation (LATR), right anterior thalamic radiation (RATR), left corticospinal tracts (LCST), forceps major (FMa), right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (RILF), and left superior longitudinal fasciculus (temporal) (LSLF(T)). Among the 6 sites, LCST, FMa, and LSLF(T) showed significant differences between MDD and First-degree relatives compared to HC. MDD patients had significant emotional symptoms, somatic symptoms, and cognitive impairment. FMa FA was significantly positively correlated with delayed memory score ( r = 0.43, P = 0.031), and RILF FA was significantly negatively correlated with the FSS score ( r = −0.42, P = 0.028). These results revealed that the white matter characteristics of MDD-susceptible patients were LCST, FMa, and LSLF(T) lesions, all of which may be quality indicators of MDD.