Decreased prefrontal Myo-inositol in major depressive disorder

Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Jun 15;57(12):1526-34. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.02.027.

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.

Publication types

  • Clinical Conference
  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aspartic Acid / analogs & derivatives*
  • Aspartic Acid / metabolism
  • Brain Chemistry*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Choline / metabolism
  • Creatine / metabolism
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Inositol / metabolism*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / methods
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prefrontal Cortex / metabolism*

Substances

  • Aspartic Acid
  • Inositol
  • N-acetylaspartate
  • Creatine
  • Choline