title: Obesity and major depression: Body-mass index (BMI) is associated with a severe course of disease and specific neurostructural alterations.
abstract: Obesity is one of the most prevalent somatic comorbidities of major depressive disorder (MDD). Both disorders rank among the leading challenges in public health and have been independently characterized by gray matter alterations in partly overlapping brain structures. Hence, it appears crucial to investigate the possibility of a shared neurostructural correlate of this frequent comorbidity as well as its clinical implications. One hundred and fourty-four patients suffering from acute MDD and 141 healthy control subjects underwent structural MRI. Imaging data were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Body-mass-index (BMI) as well as state and course of disease were assessed. Higher BMI was associated with a highly comparable pattern of gray matter reductions in the medial prefrontal cortex, the orbitofrontal cortex, the caudate nucleus and the thalamus in MDD patients and healthy controls alike. In MDD-patients, BMI was associated with a more chronic course of disease and both BMI and chronicity of disorder were related to similar morphometric anomalies in medial prefrontal areas. In MDD, obese subjects might be characterized by a more chronic course of disease. Moreover, obesity and chronicity of disorder seem to share overlapping neurostructural anomalies in prefrontal areas involved in emotion regulation and impulse control. Hence, our data provide evidence for specific morphological alterations underlying this prevalent comorbidity. It further underlines the clinical importance of preventive measures against obesity accompanying MDD treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 11, 48149 Münster Germany.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Opel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 11, 48149 Münster Germany.
authors.forename: Ronny
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Redlich
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 11, 48149 Münster Germany.
authors.forename: Dominik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grotegerd
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 11, 48149 Münster Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dohm
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Heindel
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kugel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 11, 48149 Münster Germany.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arolt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 11, 48149 Münster Germany; Department of Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Germany. Electronic address: dannlow@uni-muenster.de.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dannlowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Body mass index; Chronicity; MRI; Mood disorders; Obesity; Unipolar depression