TY - JOUR
T1 - Depression is associated with disconnection of neurotransmitter-related nuclei in multiple sclerosis
AU - Martino, Matteo
AU - Magioncalda, Paola
AU - El Mendili, Mohamed Mounir
AU - Droby, Amgad
AU - Paduri, Swetha
AU - Schiavi, Simona
AU - Petracca, Maria
AU - Inglese, Matilde
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2020.
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Background: Depression is frequently associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the biological background underlying such association is poorly understood. Objective: Investigating the functional connections of neurotransmitter-related brainstem nuclei, along with their relationship with white matter (WM) microstructure, in MS patients with depressive symptomatology (MS-D) and without depressive symptomatology (MS-nD). Methods: Combined resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI) study on 50 MS patients, including 19 MS-D and 31 MS-nD patients, along with 37 healthy controls (HC). Main analyses performed are (1) comparison between groups of raphe nuclei (RN)-related functional connectivity (FC); (2) correlation between RN-related FC and whole brain dMRI-derived fractional anisotropy (FA) map; and (3) comparison between groups of FA in the RN-related WM area. Results: (1) RN-related FC was reduced in MS-D when compared to MS-nD and HC; (2) RN-related FC positively correlated with FA in a WM cluster mainly encompassing thalamic/basal ganglia regions, including the fornix; and (3) FA in such WM area was reduced in MS-D. Conclusion: Depressive symptomatology in MS is specifically associated to a functional disconnection of neurotransmitter-related nuclei, which in turn may be traced to a distinct spatial pattern of WM alterations mainly involving the limbic network.
AB - Background: Depression is frequently associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the biological background underlying such association is poorly understood. Objective: Investigating the functional connections of neurotransmitter-related brainstem nuclei, along with their relationship with white matter (WM) microstructure, in MS patients with depressive symptomatology (MS-D) and without depressive symptomatology (MS-nD). Methods: Combined resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI) study on 50 MS patients, including 19 MS-D and 31 MS-nD patients, along with 37 healthy controls (HC). Main analyses performed are (1) comparison between groups of raphe nuclei (RN)-related functional connectivity (FC); (2) correlation between RN-related FC and whole brain dMRI-derived fractional anisotropy (FA) map; and (3) comparison between groups of FA in the RN-related WM area. Results: (1) RN-related FC was reduced in MS-D when compared to MS-nD and HC; (2) RN-related FC positively correlated with FA in a WM cluster mainly encompassing thalamic/basal ganglia regions, including the fornix; and (3) FA in such WM area was reduced in MS-D. Conclusion: Depressive symptomatology in MS is specifically associated to a functional disconnection of neurotransmitter-related nuclei, which in turn may be traced to a distinct spatial pattern of WM alterations mainly involving the limbic network.
KW - Multiple sclerosis
KW - depression
KW - functional connectivity
KW - raphe nuclei
KW - ventral tegmental area
KW - white matter
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090561552&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1352458520948214
DO - 10.1177/1352458520948214
M3 - Article
C2 - 32907463
AN - SCOPUS:85090561552
SN - 1352-4585
VL - 27
SP - 1102
EP - 1111
JO - Multiple Sclerosis Journal
JF - Multiple Sclerosis Journal
IS - 7
ER -