RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Time heals all wounds? A 2-year longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging study in major depressive disorder
JF Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JO J Psychiatry Neurosci
FD Canadian Medical Association
SP 407
OP 413
DO 10.1503/jpn.180243
VO 44
IS 6
A1 Jonathan Repple
A1 Dario Zaremba
A1 Susanne Meinert
A1 Dominik Grotegerd
A1 Ronny Redlich
A1 Katharina Förster
A1 Katharina Dohm
A1 Nils Opel
A1 Tim Hahn
A1 Verena Enneking
A1 Elisabeth J. Leehr
A1 Joscha Böhnlein
A1 Fanni Dzvonyar
A1 Lisa Sindermann
A1 Nils Winter
A1 Janik Goltermann
A1 Harald Kugel
A1 Jochen Bauer
A1 Walter Heindel
A1 Volker Arolt
A1 Udo Dannlowski
YR 2019
UL http://jpn.ca/content/44/6/407.abstract
AB Background: Cross-sectional studies have repeatedly shown impaired white matter integrity in patients with major depressive disorder. Longitudinal analyses are missing from the current research and are crucial to elucidating the impact of disease trajectories on white matter impairment in major depressive disorder.Methods: Fifty-nine patients with major depressive disorder receiving inpatient treatment, as well as 49 healthy controls, took part in a prospective study. Participants were scanned twice (baseline and follow-up), approximately 2.25 years apart, using diffusion tensor imaging. We analyzed diffusion metrics using tract-based spatial statistics.Results: At baseline, patients had higher mean diffusivity in a large bilateral frontal cluster comprising the body and genu of the corpus callosum, the anterior and superior corona radiata, and the superior longitudinal fasciculus. A significant group × time interaction revealed a decrease of mean diffusivity in patients with major depressive disorder over time, abolishing group differences at follow-up. This effect was observed irrespective of disease course in the follow-up period.Limitations: Analyzing the course of illness is challenging because of recollection biases in patients with major depressive disorder.Conclusion: This study reports follow-up diffusion tensor imaging data in patients with major depressive disorder after an acute depressive episode. We demonstrated impaired prefrontal white matter microstructure (higher mean diffusivity) at baseline in patients with major depressive disorder, which normalized at follow-up after 2 years, irrespective of disease course. This might have been due to a general treatment effect and might have reflected recovery of white matter integrity.