Structural Changes in Hippocampal Subfields in Major Depressive Disorder: A High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

• Published in: Biological psychiatry (1969) Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 62 - 68
• Main Authors: Huang, Yushan, Coupland, Nicholas J., Lebel, R. Marc, Carter, Rawle, Seres, Peter, Wilman, Alan H., Malykhin, Nikolai V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.07.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Antidepressant treatment; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Biological and medical sciences; cornu ammonis; dentate gyrus; Depression; Depressive Disorder, Major - drug therapy; Depressive Disorder, Major - pathology; Female; hippocampus; Hippocampus - drug effects; Hippocampus - pathology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; major depressive disorder; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mood disorders; Neuropharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psychiatry; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; subiculum; Young Adult; subiculum; cornu ammonis; dentate gyrus; Antidepressant treatment; hippocampus; major depressive disorder; Mood disorder; Psychotropic; Central nervous system; Depression; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Encephalon; Dentate gyrus; Treatment; High field; Medical imagery; Antidepressant agent; Hippocampus
• ISSN: 0006-3223; 1873-2402; 1873-2402
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.01.005

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has shown lower hippocampal volume in major depressive disorder (MDD). Preclinical and postmortem studies show that chronic stress and MDD may affect hippocampal subfields differently, but MRI spatial resolution has previously been insufficient to measure subfield volumes. Twenty MDD participants (9 unmedicated and 11 medicated, both>6 months) and 27 healthy control subjects were studied. We used T2-weighted two-dimensional fast spin echo and T1-weighted three-dimensional magnetization prepared rapid acquisition gradient-echo sequences at 4.7 T to compare hippocampal subfield volumes at .09 μL voxel volume. Unmedicated MDD participants had a lower dentate gyrus volume than control subjects or medicated MDD participants and a lower cornu ammonis (CA1–3) volume in the hippocampal body subregion than control subjects. Hippocampal volumes in unmedicated MDD showed evidence of localization to specific subfields and subregions, findings that appear, on the surface, consistent with preclinical evidence for localized mechanisms of hippocampal neuroplasticity. Strengths include in vivo measurement of entire hippocampal subfields and separation between unmedicated and medicated MDD. Limitations include power to control for multiple comparisons and that MRI landmarks approximate the subfields defined by cellular microstructure.