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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

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

Authors: Zhongwei Guo, Jiangtao Zhang, Xiaozheng Liu, Hongtao Hou, Yulin Cao, Fuquan Wei, Japeng Li, Xingli Chen, Yuedi Shen, Wei Chen

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

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.
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Metadata
Title
Neurometabolic characteristics in the anterior cingulate gyrus of Alzheimer’s disease patients with depression: a 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study
Authors
Zhongwei Guo
Jiangtao Zhang
Xiaozheng Liu
Hongtao Hou
Yulin Cao
Fuquan Wei
Japeng Li
Xingli Chen
Yuedi Shen
Wei Chen
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0691-7

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