Alterations in white matter fractional anisotropy in subsyndromal perimenopausal depression

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Tianzi Jiang¹  Jinbei Zhang²  Sha Liu³  Xianglan Wang⁴  Zhiyong Zhong⁴  Jiong Tao⁴  Lingjiang Li⁵ 

[1] Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190, Beijing, China;National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190, Beijing, China;Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, 4072, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia;Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 610054, Chengdu, China;Department of Psychiatry, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 510630, Guangzhou, China;Department of Radiology, Guangzhou Brain Hospital, 510370, Guangzhou, China;Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China;Department of Psychiatry, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 510630, Guangzhou, China;Mental Health Institute of the Second Xiangya Hospital, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, 410011, Changsha, China;Shenzhen Kangning Hospital of Guangdong Province, 518003, Shenzhen, China;

关键词: White matter;    Fractional anisotropy;    Estrogen;    Perimenopause;    Depressive disorders;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-014-0367-8

 received in 2014-07-27, accepted in 2014-12-17,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSubsyndromal depression (SSD) is considered as a predictor for future depressive disorders, however whether white matter abnormalities are involved in the high-susceptibility of women to depressive disorders during perimenopause is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate fractional anisotropy (FA) in the white matter of the whole brain in perimenopausal women with SSD using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, 24 perimenopausal women with SSD and 24 other age-, education-, and body mass index-matched healthy women underwent DTI. A voxel-based analysis was used to elucidate regional FA changes at a voxel threshold of p < 0.001 with an extent threshold of k > 127 voxels (p < 0.05, AlphaSim correction). Subsequently, correlation analyses were performed between mean FA values in significant brain regions and plasma estradiol level.ResultsCompared to healthy controls, women with SSD exhibited significantly lower FA values in the left insula, while higher FA values were observed in the left ventral lateral thalamus and left and right brainstem in the midbrain. In subjects with SSD, the mean FA value in the left insula was positively correlated to plasma estradiol levels (r = 0.453, p = 0.026) (uncorrected).ConclusionsOur findings indicate altered microstructures in white matter of the insula and subcortical regions may be associated with the high susceptibility of perimenopausal women to depressive disorders. Estrogen may modulate the white matter microstructure of the insula.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Wang et al.; licensee BioMed Central. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.