Childhood maltreatment (CM) is regarded as an important risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the neural links corresponding to the process of early CM experience producing brain alterations and then leading to depression later remain unclear. To explore the neural basis of the effects of CM on MDD and the potential role of microRNA-9 (miR-9) in these processes, we recruited 40 unmedicated MDD patients and 34 healthy controls (HCs) to complete resting-state fMRI scans and peripheral blood miR-9 tests. The neural substrates of CM, miR-9, and depression, as well as their interactive effects on intrinsic amygdala functional connectivity (AFC) networks were investigated in MDD patients. Two-step mediation analysis was separately employed to explore whether AFC strength mediates the association among CM severity, miR-9 levels, and depression. A support vector classifier (SVC) model of machine learning was used to distinguish MDD patients from HCs. MDD patients showed higher miR-9 levels that were negatively correlated with CM scores and depressive severity. Overlapping effects of CM, miR-9, and depressive severity on bilateral AFC networks in MDD patients were primarily located in the prefrontal-striatum pathway and limbic system. The connection of amygdala to prefrontal-limbic circuits could mediate the effects of CM severity on the miR-9 levels, as well as the impacts of miR-9 levels on the severity of depression in MDD patients. Furthermore, the SVC model, which integrated miR-9 levels, CM severity, and AFC strength in prefrontal-limbic regions, had good power in differentiating MDD patients from HCs (accuracy 85.1%). MiR-9 may play a crucial role in the process of CM experience-produced brain changes targeting prefrontal-limbic regions and that subsequently leads to depression. The present neuroimaging-epigenetic results provide new insight into our understanding of MDD pathophysiology.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117428 | DOI Listing |
J Psychiatry Neurosci
January 2025
From the Department of Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China (Gong, Wang, Nie, Ma, Zhou, Deng, Xie, Lyu, Chen, Kang, Liu); the Taikang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China (Liu)
Background: Cortical morphometry is an intermediate phenotype that is closely related to the genetics and onset of major depressive disorder (MDD), and cortical morphometric networks are considered more relevant to disease mechanisms than brain regions. We sought to investigate changes in cortical morphometric networks in MDD and their relationship with genetic risk in healthy controls.
Methods: We recruited healthy controls and patients with MDD of Han Chinese descent.
Alzheimers Dement
December 2024
Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
Background: Patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) frequently manifest comorbid neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) with depression and anxiety being most prevalent. Previously we identified shared genetic risk loci between AD and major depressive disorder (MDD). In another study, we constructed a polygenic risk score (PRS) based on MDD-GWAS data and demonstrated its performance in predicting depression onset in LOAD patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
Brunel University London, London, United Kingdom.
Background: Apathy and mood symptoms are increasingly recognised as clinical important aspects of prodromal dementia; both are associated with increased risk of dementia even in cognitively normal people. The clinical overlap between apathy and low mood poses a challenge in distinguishing between the two conditions. It is crucial to differentiate between depression and apathy, along with any underlying syndromes, to facilitate the development of targeted treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although there is clear evidence that therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has beneficial effects for patients treated with tricyclic antidepressants, it is generally not recommended for second-generation antidepressants (SGA). However, it has been suggested that methodological shortcomings might influence the results in TDM studies with SGA.
Aim: A qualitative assessment of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that specifically investigated drug concentration-effect relationships of SGA in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) to analyze the potential benefit of TDM during treatment with these agents.
Front Public Health
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Background: Individuals exposed to wildfires are at risk of developing adverse mental health conditions in the months following the event. Receiving supportive text interventions during and after a wildfire event can have a significant impact on reducing mental health conditions over time.
Objectives: The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a supportive text message intervention service in reducing the severity and prevalence of psychological conditions 3 months following the 2023 wildfires in Alberta and Nova Scotia, two regions heavily affected by these natural disasters.
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