The relationship between depressive symptoms and prefrontal hypoperfusion demonstrated by eZIS in patients with DAT.
Depressive symptoms are common in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and contribute to clinical morbidity. Previous studies have suggested that hypoperfusion in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus are involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Using the easy Z-score imaging system (eZIS), we investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms and prefrontal hypoperfusion in AD. Tc-99m-ethyl cysteinate dimer (Tc-99m-ECD)-single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) were performed in forty-four patients diagnosed as having Dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). These patients were divided into the depressive group (D group: n=26) and non-depressive group (ND group: n=18) using NPI depression items. All data from SPECT images were analyzed using eZIS software. Scores in four regions were determined by Z-values; these regions consisted of each side of the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus. The mean scores between the D group and ND group were compared. The mean scores of the left prefrontal cortex in the D group were significantly higher (p<0.0125) than those in the ND group. There were no significant differences in the scores of the right prefrontal cortex and the bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus between these two groups (Mann-Whitney U-test). These findings suggest that hypoperfusion in the left prefrontal area contributes to the expression of depressive symptoms in patients with DAT.
Akiyama
Hisanori
H
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Osaka City University, Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3, Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
Hashimoto
Hiroshi
H
Kawabe
Joji
J
Higashiyama
Shigeaki
S
Kai
Toshihiro
T
Kataoka
Kouhei
K
Shimada
Aiko
A
Inoue
Koki
K
Shiomi
Susumu
S
Kiriike
Nobuo
N
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D003545:Cysteine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; C059659:technetium Tc 99m bicisate; D003545:Cysteine