Thyroid hormones disturbances, cognitive deficits and abnormal dynamic functional connectivity variability of the amygdala in unmedicated bipolar disorder

Pan Chen; Guanmao Chen; Shuming Zhong; Feng Chen; Tao Ye; JiaYing Gong; Guixian Tang; Youling Pan; Zhenye Luo; Zhangzhang Qi; Li Huang; Ying Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.03.023

Thyroid hormones disturbances, cognitive deficits and abnormal dynamic functional connectivity variability of the amygdala in unmedicated bipolar disorder

J Psychiatr Res. 2022 Jun:150:282-291. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.03.023. Epub 2022 Mar 24.

Authors

Pan Chen¹, Guanmao Chen¹, Shuming Zhong², Feng Chen¹, Tao Ye³, JiaYing Gong⁴, Guixian Tang¹, Youling Pan¹, Zhenye Luo¹, Zhangzhang Qi¹, Li Huang¹, Ying Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China; Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China.
² Department of Psychiatry, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China.
³ Clinical Laboratory Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China.
⁴ Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China; Department of Radiology, Six Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510655, China.
⁵ Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China; Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China. Electronic address: johneil@vip.sina.com.

PMID: 35429738
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.03.023

Abstract

Objective: Accumulating evidence suggests that hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis dysfunction is relevant to the neuropsychological and pathophysiology functions of bipolar disorder (BD). However, no research has investigated the inter-relationships among thyroid hormones disturbance, neurocognitive deficits, and aberrant brain function (particularly in the amygdala) in patients with BD.

Materials and methods: Data of dynamic resting-state functional connectivity (rs-dFC) were gathered from 59 patients with unmedicated BD II during depressive episodes and 52 healthy controls (HCs). Four seeds were selected (the bilateral lateral amygdala and the bilateral medial amygdala). The sliding-window analysis was applied to investigate dynamic functional connectivity (dFC). Additionally, the serum thyroid hormone (free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), total tri-iodothyronine (TT3), free thyroxin (FT4), total thyroxin (TT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)) levels, and cognitive scores on the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) in patients and HCs were detected.

Results: The BD group exhibited increased dFC variability between the left medial amygdala and right medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) when compared with the HC group. Additionally, the BD group showed lower FT3, TT3, and TSH level, higher FT4 level, and poorer cognitive score. Moreover, a significant negative correlation was observed between the dFC variability of the left medial amygdala-right mPFC and TSH level, or reasoning and problem solving of MCCB score in BD group. Multiple regression analysis showed that the TSH level × dFC variability of the medial amygdala-mPFC was an independent predictor for cognitive processing speed in BD group.

Conclusions: This study revealed patients with BD II depression had excessive variability in dFC between the medial amygdala and mPFC. Moreover, both HPT axis dysfunction and abnormal dFC of the amygdala-mPFC might be implicated in cognitive impairment in the early stages of BD.

Keywords: Amygdala; Bipolar disorder; Cognition; Dynamic functional connectivity; Thyroid hormones.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amygdala / diagnostic imaging
Bipolar Disorder* / complications
Bipolar Disorder* / diagnostic imaging
Cognition
Cognitive Dysfunction* / diagnostic imaging
Cognitive Dysfunction* / etiology
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Thyroid Hormones
Thyrotropin
Thyroxine

Substances

Thyroid Hormones
Thyrotropin
Thyroxine