Near infrared spectroscopy study of the frontopolar hemodynamic response and depressive mood in children with major depressive disorder: a pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the frontopolar hemodynamic response and depressive mood in children with mild or moderate major depressive disorder during six weeks treatment without medication.


METHODS
The subjects were 10 patients with mild or moderate depression. They were depressive drug-naive children and adolescents. The scores of Depression Self Rating Scale (DSRS), the results of the Verbal Fluency Test (VFT), and the concentrations of oxy-hemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) of frontal pole brain assessed by two-channel near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) after six weeks of treatment was compared with those of initial treatment.


RESULTS
The score of DSRS was significantly reduced after six weeks of initial treatment (p<0.001, t-test). The word number of VFT was not significantly changed after six weeks of treatment. The oxy-Hb concentration significantly increased after six weeks of treatment (p<0.001, t-test).


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that the concentration of oxy-Hb of frontopolar cortex in children with mild and moderate depression improved along with their depressive mood. These results suggested that concentration of oxy-Hb using NIRS may be used as the state maker for change in depressive mood of children having depression, similar to that in adults.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Ichikawa, Japan.
Masahide
M
Usami
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Ichikawa, Japan.
Yoshitaka
Y
Iwadare
Department of Child Mental Health, Imperial Gift Foundation, Aiiku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Masaki
M
Kodaira
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Kohnodai Hospital, Ichikawa, Japan.
Kyota
K
Watanabe
Department of Child Mental Health, Imperial Gift Foundation, Aiiku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Kazuhiko
K
Saito
D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D057566:Self Report; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015415:Biomarkers; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins