title: Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling imaging of cerebral blood perfusion asymmetry in drug-naïve patients with first-episode major depression.
abstract: Many previous studies have reported that regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) aberrations may be one of the pathological characteristics of depression and rCBF has demonstrated a certain degree of asymmetry. However, studies investigating the cerebral blood perfusion asymmetry changes of drug-naïve patients experiencing their first episode of major depression using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) are rare. Ten drug-naïve patients experiencing their first major depression episode and 15 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the current study. A novel pCASL method was applied to whole brain MRI scans of all of the samples. The Statistics Parameter Mapping and Relative Expression Software Tool software packages were used for the pre-processing and statistical analysis of the two sets of images, and the differences in the cerebral blood perfusion at the whole brain level were compared between the two groups. Compared with the healthy control group, the cerebral perfusion of the depression patients showed an asymmetric pattern. Decreased cerebral blood perfusion regions were primarily located in the left hemisphere, specifically in the left temporal lobe, frontal lobe and cingulate cortex [P<0.05 and cluster size ≥30 with false discovery rate (FDR) correction]. Simultaneously, increased perfusion regions were predominantly located in the right hemisphere, specifically in the right cerebellum, thalamus, frontal lobe and anterior cingulate cortex (P<0.05 and cluster size ≥30, with FDR correction). Thus, pCASL may characterize the alterations in cerebral blood perfusion of patients with depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wenzhou 7th People's Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guangdong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tianjin 4th Centre Hospital, Tianjin 300143, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Haiman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wenzhou 7th People's Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Deguo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tianjin Anning Hospital, Tianjin 300300, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Mingwei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tianjin 4th Centre Hospital, Tianjin 300143, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shengzhang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Tianjin Anding Hospital, Tianjin Mental Health Center, Tianjin 300222, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wenzhou 7th People's Hospital, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, P.R. China; Department of Psychiatry, Tianjin Anning Hospital, Tianjin 300300, P.R. China; Department of Psychiatry, Tianjin Anding Hospital, Tianjin Mental Health Center, Tianjin 300222, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chuanjun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhuo
keywords: asymmetry; drug naïve; first-episode; functional magnetic resonance imaging; magnetic resonance imaging; major depression; pseudo continuous arterial spin labeling; pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling; regional cerebral blood flow; regional cerebral flow