Decreased prefrontal myo-inositol in major depressive disorder

Coupland NJ, Ogilvie CJ, Hegadoren KM +3 more2005Biological PsychiatryJournal Article

10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.02.027 PubMed

Neurological

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Postmortem studies have shown robust prefrontal cortex glial losses and more subtle neuronal changes in major depressive disorder (MDD). Earlier proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) studies of the glial marker myo-inositol in MDD were subject to potential confounds. The primary hypothesis of this study was that MDD patients would show reduced prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex levels of myo-inositol. METHODS: Thirteen nonmedicated moderate-severe MDD patients and 13 matched control subjects were studied (six male, seven female per group). Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy stimulated echo acquisition mode spectra (3.0 T; echo time=168 msec; mixing time=28 msec; repetition time=3000 msec) were obtained from prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex. Metabolite data were adjusted for tissue composition. RESULTS: Patients with MDD showed significantly lower myo-inositol/creatine ratios (.94+/-.23) than control subjects (1.32+/-.37) [F(1,23)=6.9; p=.016]. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest a reduction of myo-inositol in prefrontal/anterior cingulate cortex in MDD, which could be a consequence of glial loss or altered glial metabolism. Additional in vivo studies of glial markers could add to the understanding of the pathophysiology of MDD.

Key Biomarkers

Creatine ratiomyo-inositolprefrontal cortex metabolites

Symptom Clusters

Major depressive disorder

Cited By (1)

Review of 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings in major depressive disorder: a meta-analysisPsychiatry Research Neuroimaging · 2006

References (2)