1. Lower Locus Coeruleus MRI intensity in patients with late-life major depression
- Author
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Inés del Cerro, Gerard Blasco, Jordi Gascon, Inmaculada Rico, Mónica Giménez, Mikel Urretavizcaya, Pol Canal-Noguer, Virginia Soria, Andrés Guinea-Izquierdo, Isidre Ferrer, Ramón Reñé, Ignacio Martínez-Zalacaín, Angels Camins, Carles Soriano-Mas, Carlos Aguilera, José M. Menchón, and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Doctorat en Bioinformàtica
- Subjects
Oncology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Radiology and Medical Imaging ,Central nervous system ,lcsh:Medicine ,Neurociència cognitiva ,Psychiatry and Psychology ,Major depressive disorder ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Neuromelanin ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Magnetic resonance imaging ,Ciències de la salut::Medicina::Neurologia [Àrees temàtiques de la UPC] ,Internal medicine ,mental disorders ,medicine ,Locus coeruleus ,Cognitive Disorders ,Depression (differential diagnoses) ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Malalties del sistema nerviós central ,General Neuroscience ,Serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors ,lcsh:R ,Cervell -- Anatomia ,Cognitive neuroscience ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,Comorbidity ,Pathophysiology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Brain--Anatomy ,Amnestic mild cognitive impairment ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Central nervous system diseases ,Neuroscience - Abstract
Background The locus coeruleus (LC) is the major noradrenergic source in the central nervous system. Structural alterations in the LC contribute to the pathophysiology of different neuropsychiatric disorders, which may increase to a variable extent the likelihood of developing neurodegenerative conditions. The characterization of such alterations may therefore help to predict progression to neurodegenerative disorders. Despite the LC cannot be visualized with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), specific MRI sequences have been developed to infer its structural integrity. Methods We quantified LC signal Contrast Ratios (LCCRs) in late-life major depressive disorder (MDD) (n = 37, 9 with comorbid aMCI), amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) (n = 21, without comorbid MDD), and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 31), and also assessed the putative modulatory effects of comorbidities and other clinical variables. Results LCCRs were lower in MDD compared to aMCI and HCs. While no effects of aMCI comorbidity were observed, lower LCCRs were specifically observed in patients taking serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Conclusion Our results do not support the hypothesis that lower LCCRs characterize the different clinical groups that may eventually develop a neurodegenerative disorder. Conversely, our results were specifically observed in patients with late-life MDD taking SNRIs. Further research with larger samples is warranted to ascertain whether medication or particular clinical features of patients taking SNRIs are associated with changes in LC neurons.
- Published
- 2021