Clinical and medial temporal features in a family with mood disorders.
It is debated whether non-affected relatives of patients with affective disorders share a specific brain structure endophenotype. Aim of this work is to explore the medial temporal morphology in affected and non-affected members of a family with mood disorders. Hippocampi and amygdalae were manually traced from the 3D magnetic resonance imaging of five affected family members, 10 non-affected relatives, and 15 unrelated matched controls. Affected and non-affected relatives were characterized by larger left amygdalae (18%, p=0.030), smaller right hippocampus (up to 18%, p<0.0005), and reduced hippocampal asymmetry (p<0.001) than controls. Abnormal, albeit non significant, positive correlations of MTL volumes with age were observed, with the exception of smaller volume of the left hippocampus with advancing age (r=-0.76) in the affected relatives. These data add to the evidence that abnormal medial temporal structures may constitute an endophenotype for affective disorders.
Boccardi
Marina
M
LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy.
Almici
Monica
M
Bresciani
Lorena
L
Caroli
Anna
A
Bonetti
Matteo
M
Monchieri
Sergio
S
Gennarelli
Massimo
M
Frisoni
Giovanni B
GB
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*