Neurometabolic characteristics in the anterior cingulate gyrus of Alzheimer’s disease patients with depression: a 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

Background Depression is a common comorbid psychiatric symptom in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the prevalence of depression is higher among people with AD compared with healthy older adults. Comorbid depression in AD may increase the risk of cognitive decline, impair patients...

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Published inBMC psychiatry Vol. 15; no. 1
Main Authors Guo, Zhongwei, Zhang, Jiangtao, Liu, Xiaozheng, Hou, Hongtao, Cao, Yulin, Wei, Fuquan, Li, Japeng, Chen, Xingli, Shen, Yuedi, Chen, Wei
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London BioMed Central Ltd 02.12.2015
BioMed Central
Subjects
Advertising executives
Aged
Alzheimer's disease
Comorbidity
Comparative analysis
Depression, Mental
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Mental depression
Metabolites
Neurons
Neurophysiology
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Psychiatry
Suicides & suicide attempts
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Summary:Background Depression is a common comorbid psychiatric symptom in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the prevalence of depression is higher among people with AD compared with healthy older adults. Comorbid depression in AD may increase the risk of cognitive decline, impair patients' function, and reduce their quality of life. However, the mechanisms of depression in AD remain unclear. Here, our aim was to identify neurometabolic characteristics in the brain that are associated with depression in patients with mild AD. Methods Thirty-seven patients were evaluated using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), and divided into two groups: 17 AD patients with depression (D-AD) and 20 non-depressed AD patients (nD-AD). Using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we characterized neurometabolites in the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) of D-AD and nD-AD patients. Results Compared with nD-AD patients, D-AD patients showed lower N-acetylaspartate/creatine (NAA/Cr) and higher myo-inositol/creatine (mI/Cr) in the left ACG. NPI score correlated with NAA/Cr and mI/Cr in the left ACG, while HAMD correlated with NAA/Cr. Conclusions Our findings show neurometabolic alterations in D-AD patients. Thus, D-AD pathogenesis may be attributed to abnormal activity of neurons and glial cells in the left ACG. Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Depression, Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Anterior cingulate gyrus
ISSN:1471-244X
1471-244X
DOI:10.1186/s12888-015-0691-7