MK4MDD

Study Report

Reference
CitationNery, 2009 PubMed
Full InfoNery, F.G., Stanley, J.A., Chen, H.H., Hatch, J.P., Nicoletti, M.A., Monkul, E.S., Matsuo, K., Caetano, S.C., Peluso, M.A., Najt, P. et al. (2009) Normal metabolite levels in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of unmedicated major depressive disorder patients: a single voxel (1)H spectroscopy study. Psychiatry Res, 174, 177-183.

Study
Hypothesis or Background Few proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H spectroscopy) studies have investigated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a key region in the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). We used (1)H spectroscopy to verify whether MDD patients differ from healthy controls (HC) in metabolite levels in this brain area.
Sample InformationThirty-seven unmedicated DSM-IV MDD patients were compared with 40 HC.
Method DetailSubjects underwent a short echo-time (1)H spectroscopy examination at 1.5 T, with an 8-cm(3) single voxel placed in the left DLPFC. Reliable absolute metabolite levels of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), phosphocreatine plus creatine (PCr+Cr), choline-containing compounds (GPC+PC), myo-inositol, glutamate plus glutamine (Glu+Gln), and glutamate were obtained using the unsuppressed water signal as an internal reference.
Method Keywordsspectrophotometric analysis
ResultMetabolite levels in the left DLPFC did not statistically differ between MDD patients and HC. We found an interaction between gender and diagnosis on PCr+Cr levels. Male MDD patients presented lower levels of PCr+Cr than male HC, and female MDD patients presented higher levels of PCr+Cr than female HC. Moreover, length of illness was inversely correlated with NAA levels.
ConclusionsThese findings suggest that there is not an effect of diagnosis on the left DLPFC neurochemistry. Possible effects of gender on PCr+Cr levels of MDD patients need to be further investigated.

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