Frontal white matter alterations in short-term medicated panic disorder patients without comorbid conditions: a diffusion tensor imaging study.
The frontal cortex might play an important role in the fear network, and white matter (WM) integrity could be related to the pathophysiology of panic disorder (PD). A few studies have investigated alterations of WM integrity in PD. The aim of this study was to determine frontal WM integrity differences between patients with PD without comorbid conditions and healthy control (HC) subjects by using diffusion tensor imaging. Thirty-six patients with PD who had used medication within 1 week and 27 age- and sex-matched HC subjects participated in this study. Structural brain magnetic resonance imaging was performed on all participants. Panic Disorder Severity Scale and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores were assessed. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used for image analysis. TBSS analysis showed decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in frontal WM and WM around the frontal lobe, including the corpus callosum of both hemispheres, in patients with PD compared to HC subjects. Moreover, voxel-wise correlation analysis revealed that the BAI scores for patients with PD were positively correlated with their FA values for regions showing group differences in the FA of frontal WM of both hemispheres. Altered integrity in frontal WM of patients with PD without comorbid conditions might represent the structural pathophysiology in these patients, and these changes could be related to clinical symptoms of PD.
Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Borah
B
Kim
Department of Psychiatry, Bundang Jaesaeng Hospital, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Jeong Hoon
JH
Kim
Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Min-Kyoung
MK
Kim
Department of Psychiatry, CHA Gangnam Medical Center, CHA University, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Kang Soo
KS
Lee
Sujiyonsei Psychiatric Clinic, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Youngki
Y
Kim
Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Tai Kiu
TK
Choi
Department of Applied Bioscience, College of Life Science, CHA University, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Yun Tai
YT
Kim
Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Sang-Hyuk
SH
Lee
D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents