title: Antidepressant treatment normalizes white matter volume in patients with major depression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate white matter volume abnormalities in patients with major depression and the effects of antidepressant treatment on white matter volume.
  
  
  METHODS
  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on 32 treatment-naïve depressed patients, 17 recovered patients who had received antidepressant treatment and subsequently achieved clinical recovery and 34 matched controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Relative to the healthy controls, the treatment-naïve depressed patients showed increased white matter volumes in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left putamen and reduced white matter volumes in the left cerebellum posterior lobe and left inferior parietal lobule. For the treatment-naïve patients, the length in months of the current depressive episode was positively correlated with the white matter volumes in both the left DLPFC and left putamen. In the recovered patients, the differences in white matter volume were no longer statistically significant relative to healthy controls. No significant difference was found in the total white matter volume among the three groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that there were alterations in the white matter volumes of depressed patients, which might disrupt the neural circuits that are involved in emotional and cognitive function and thus contribute to the pathophysiology of depression. The finding of the significant correlations between refractoriness and the white matter volumes in the left DLPFC and left putamen combined with the finding that antidepressant treatment normalized the white matter volume of recovered patients, suggests that a quantitative, structural MRI measurement could act as a potential biomarker in depression therapy for individual subjects.
authors.affiliation: College of Mechatronics and Automation, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ling-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yadong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Yaming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Dewen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D018759:Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D054022:Cerebrum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018759:Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors