Dopamine Multilocus Genetic Profile, Spontaneous Activity of Left Superior Temporal Gyrus, and Early Therapeutic Effect in Major Depressive Disorder

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the interactive effects of dopamine (DA) pathway gene and disease on spontaneous brain activity and further to explore the relationship between spontaneous brain activity and the early antidepressant therapeutic effect in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).Methods: A total of 104 patients with MDD and 64 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. The Hamilton Depression Scale-24 (HAMD-24) was used to measure the depression severity. Both groups were given resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scan. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was calculated to reflect the spontaneous brain activity based on the rs-fMRI data. After treatment for 2 weeks, depression severity was evaluated again, and HAMD-24 reductive rate was used to measure the therapeutic effect of antidepressants. Multilocus genetic profile scores (MGPS) were used to assess the multi-site cumulative effect of DA pathway gene. The interactive effects of MDD and DA pathway gene on the ALFF of regional brain areas were measured by the multivariate linear regression analysis. Finally, partial correlation analysis (age, sex, education, and illness durations as covariates) was performed to identify the relationship between regional ALFF and therapeutic effect.Results: MDD and DA-MGPS had interactive effects on the left fusiform gyrus (FG_L), right calcarine sulcus (CS_R), left superior temporal gyrus (STG_L), bilateral cerebellum posterior lobe (CPL), bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG). Partial correlation analysis revealed that the ALFF of STG_L had a significant negative correlation with 2-week HAMD-24 reductive rate (r = −0.211, P = 0.035).Conclusions: The spontaneous activity of STG_L may be a potential biomarker of antidepressant-related early therapeutic effect underlying the influence of DA pathway genes in MDD.

Altered Brain Function and Causal Connectivity Induced by Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder

“…As an important part of the prefrontal cortex ( Li et al, 2013 ), the left superior frontal gyrus plays a vital role in self-awareness ( Niendam et al, 2012 ) and negative emotion regulation ( Chen et al, 2022 ), and it is involved in attention control and emotion regulation in patients with MDD ( Dutta et al, 2014 ; Hamilton et al, 2015 ). In this study, we found that patients with MDD had significantly lower ALFF in the left superior frontal gyrus than healthy controls, which is consistent with the findings of previous studies ( Liu et al, 2020 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ). The decreased spontaneous activities of brain neurons in the superior frontal gyrus may lead to low mood, anhedonia, and excessive negative self-evaluation in patients with MDD ( Guo et al, 2013 ).…”

Detection of Abnormal Spontaneous Brain Activity Patterns in Patients With Orbital Fractures Using Fractional Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation

“…The STG is a component of the default mode network, which is inhibited during brain activity and excited during rest. Liu et al ( 39 ) used the rsMRI-fALFF method to study the STG in depression. They found that the lower fALFF values of STG correlated greater reductions on the Hamilton rating scale for depression, and inferred that STG neural changes were closely related to the effect of early treatment for depression.…”

Detection of Abnormal Spontaneous Brain Activity Patterns in Patients with Orbital Fractures using Fractional Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation

“…The STG is a component of the default mode network, which is inhibited during brain activity and excited during rest. Liu et al [39] used the rsMRI-fALFF method to study the STG in depression. They found that lower the fALFF values of STG correlatedgreater reductions on the Hamilton rating scale for depression, and inferred that STG neural changes were closely related to the effect of early treatment for depression.…”