title: Impaired integrity of the brain parenchyma in non-geriatric patients with major depressive disorder revealed by diffusion tensor imaging.
abstract: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is considered to be able to non-invasively quantify white matter integrity. This study aimed to use DTI to evaluate white matter integrity in non-geriatric patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who were free of antidepressant medication. DTI was performed on 19 non-geriatric patients with MDD, free of antidepressant medication, and 19 age-matched healthy subjects. Voxel-based and histogram analyses were used to compare fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values between the two groups, using two-sample t tests. The abnormal DTI indices, if any, were tested for correlation with disease duration and severity, using Pearson product-moment correlation analysis. Voxel-based analysis showed clusters with FA decrease at the bilateral frontal white matter, anterior limbs of internal capsule, cerebellum, left putamen and right thalamus of the patients. Histogram analysis revealed lower peak position of FA histograms in the patients. FA values of the abnormal clusters and peak positions of FA histograms of the patients exhibited moderate correlation with disease duration and severity. These results suggest the implication of frontal-subcortical circuits and cerebellum in MDD, and the potential utility of FA in evaluation of brain parenchymal integrity.
authors.affiliation: Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Radiobiology and Medical Engineering, N-15, W-7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan. kktha@med.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Khin K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Tha
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Terae
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Nobuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kako
authors.forename: Yasuya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakato
authors.forename: Kawser
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akter Popy
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujima
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zaitsu
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Yoichi M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Tamaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Tsukasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shirato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*