| Peer-Reviewed

Correlation Between the Plasma Cortisol Level and the Characteristics of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus in Depressed Patients

Received: 11 July 2016     Accepted: 18 August 2016     Published: 7 September 2016
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

To explore the characteristic changes of magnetic resonance spectroscopy of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus and the correlation with the plasma cortisol level in depressed patients without any therapy. Subjects were divided into groups by the Hamilton depression scale. Blood was taken to detect the plasma cortisol level. Meanwhile, subjects were scanned by MRI and 1H-MRS to test the brain structure and the levels of NAA, Cho, Cr in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. The level of plasma cortisol, the value of MRS and 1H-MRS of the patients were compared with those of normal control. We found that the level of plasma cortisol in depression group is higher than that in normal control group (P=0.000). A negative correlation between the level of plasma cortisol and the level of NAA in the left prefrontal cortex is observed (r = -0.625, P = 0.041), while in the left hippocampus, the correlation between them is positive (r = 0.647, P = 0.043). The level of NAA in the left prefrontal cortex of depression group is lower than that of normal control (P = 0.006); and the levels of NAA, Cho, Cr in both left and right hippocampus of depression group is lower than those of normal control group (P < 0.05). These data suggest that the changes of energy metabolism may happen before the structural damage of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and correlate to the changes of the level of plasma cortisol in depression patients.

Published in International Journal of Medical Imaging (Volume 4, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11
Page(s) 39-43
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Depression, Plasma Cortisol, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Prefrontal Cortex, Hippocampus

References
[1] Krishnan KR, Godde KM, Kim YD, et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology and brain imaging in depression. Psychiatr Clin North AM, 1998; 21 (2): 465-72.
[2] Nemeroff CB, Vale WW. The neurobiology of depression: inroads to treatment and new drug discovery. J Clin Psychiatry, 2005; 66 Suppl 7: 5-13.
[3] Herman JP, Ostrander MM, Mueller NK et al. Limbic system mechanisms of stress regulation: hypothalano-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. Prog Neupsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry, 2005; 29 (8): 1201-13.
[4] Yan Likun Application of Correlation Coefficient and Biased Correlation Coefficient in Related Analysis. Journal of Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, 2003, 19 (3): 78-80.
[5] Hoschl C, Hajek. Hippocampal damage mediated by corticosteroids – a neuropsychiatric research challenge. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 2001; 251 Suppl 2: 1181-8.
[6] Vreeburg SA, Hoogendijk WJ, Van Pelt J, et al. Major depressive disorder and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity: results from a large cohort study. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2009; 66 (6): 617-26.
[7] Cole J, Costafreda SG, McGuffin P, et al. Hippocampal atrophy in first episode depression: a meta-analysis of magnetic resonance imaging studies. J Affect Disord, 2011; 134 (1-3): 483-7.
[8] Tadafumi K, Toshiro I, Nobumasa K, et al. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in affective disorders. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, 1998, 10 (2): 133-147.
[9] Tsai G, Coyle JT. N - acetylaspartate in neuropsychiatric disorders. Porg Neurobiol, 1995, 46: 531-540.
[10] Liu Xinguang, Luo Desheng. Biochemistry, Beijing Science Press, 2007.
[11] Sozeri-Varma G, Kalkan - Oquzhanoqlu N, Efe M, et al. Neurochemical metabolites in prefrontal cortex in patients with mild/moderate levels in first-episode depression. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat, 2013, 9: 1053-9.
[12] Gruber S, Frey R, Mlynarik V et al. Quantification of metabolic differences in the frontal brain of depressive patients and controls obtained by 1H-MRS at 3 Tesla. Invest Radiol, 2003; 38 (7): 403-8.
[13] Jacobson L, Sapolsky R. The role of the hippocampus in feedback regulation of the hypothalamic – pituitary - adrenocortical axis. Endocrine reviews, 1991; 12 (2): 118-34.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Yi Xu, Zhouli Zheng, Huiyi Deng, Chipeng Wu, Changzheng Shi, et al. (2016). Correlation Between the Plasma Cortisol Level and the Characteristics of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus in Depressed Patients. International Journal of Medical Imaging, 4(5), 39-43. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Yi Xu; Zhouli Zheng; Huiyi Deng; Chipeng Wu; Changzheng Shi, et al. Correlation Between the Plasma Cortisol Level and the Characteristics of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus in Depressed Patients. Int. J. Med. Imaging 2016, 4(5), 39-43. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Yi Xu, Zhouli Zheng, Huiyi Deng, Chipeng Wu, Changzheng Shi, et al. Correlation Between the Plasma Cortisol Level and the Characteristics of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus in Depressed Patients. Int J Med Imaging. 2016;4(5):39-43. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11,
      author = {Yi Xu and Zhouli Zheng and Huiyi Deng and Chipeng Wu and Changzheng Shi and Hao Xu},
      title = {Correlation Between the Plasma Cortisol Level and the Characteristics of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus in Depressed Patients},
      journal = {International Journal of Medical Imaging},
      volume = {4},
      number = {5},
      pages = {39-43},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijmi.20160405.11},
      abstract = {To explore the characteristic changes of magnetic resonance spectroscopy of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus and the correlation with the plasma cortisol level in depressed patients without any therapy. Subjects were divided into groups by the Hamilton depression scale. Blood was taken to detect the plasma cortisol level. Meanwhile, subjects were scanned by MRI and 1H-MRS to test the brain structure and the levels of NAA, Cho, Cr in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. The level of plasma cortisol, the value of MRS and 1H-MRS of the patients were compared with those of normal control. We found that the level of plasma cortisol in depression group is higher than that in normal control group (P=0.000). A negative correlation between the level of plasma cortisol and the level of NAA in the left prefrontal cortex is observed (r = -0.625, P = 0.041), while in the left hippocampus, the correlation between them is positive (r = 0.647, P = 0.043). The level of NAA in the left prefrontal cortex of depression group is lower than that of normal control (P = 0.006); and the levels of NAA, Cho, Cr in both left and right hippocampus of depression group is lower than those of normal control group (P < 0.05). These data suggest that the changes of energy metabolism may happen before the structural damage of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and correlate to the changes of the level of plasma cortisol in depression patients.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Correlation Between the Plasma Cortisol Level and the Characteristics of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus in Depressed Patients
    AU  - Yi Xu
    AU  - Zhouli Zheng
    AU  - Huiyi Deng
    AU  - Chipeng Wu
    AU  - Changzheng Shi
    AU  - Hao Xu
    Y1  - 2016/09/07
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11
    T2  - International Journal of Medical Imaging
    JF  - International Journal of Medical Imaging
    JO  - International Journal of Medical Imaging
    SP  - 39
    EP  - 43
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-832X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmi.20160405.11
    AB  - To explore the characteristic changes of magnetic resonance spectroscopy of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus and the correlation with the plasma cortisol level in depressed patients without any therapy. Subjects were divided into groups by the Hamilton depression scale. Blood was taken to detect the plasma cortisol level. Meanwhile, subjects were scanned by MRI and 1H-MRS to test the brain structure and the levels of NAA, Cho, Cr in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. The level of plasma cortisol, the value of MRS and 1H-MRS of the patients were compared with those of normal control. We found that the level of plasma cortisol in depression group is higher than that in normal control group (P=0.000). A negative correlation between the level of plasma cortisol and the level of NAA in the left prefrontal cortex is observed (r = -0.625, P = 0.041), while in the left hippocampus, the correlation between them is positive (r = 0.647, P = 0.043). The level of NAA in the left prefrontal cortex of depression group is lower than that of normal control (P = 0.006); and the levels of NAA, Cho, Cr in both left and right hippocampus of depression group is lower than those of normal control group (P < 0.05). These data suggest that the changes of energy metabolism may happen before the structural damage of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and correlate to the changes of the level of plasma cortisol in depression patients.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Psychology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

  • Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

  • Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

  • Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

  • Imaging Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

  • Department of Nuclear Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

  • Sections