The relationship between depressive symptoms and prefrontal hypoperfusion demonstrated by eZIS in patients with DAT

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 2008-08, Vol.441 (3), p.328-331
• Main Authors: Akiyama, Hisanori, Hashimoto, Hiroshi, Kawabe, Joji, Higashiyama, Shigeaki, Kai, Toshihiro, Kataoka, Kouhei, Shimada, Aiko, Inoue, Koki, Shiomi, Susumu, Kiriike, Nobuo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer; Alzheimer Disease - complications; Alzheimer Disease - physiopathology; Alzheimer Disease - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Mapping; Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology; Cerebrovascular Disorders - complications; Cerebrovascular Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Cerebrovascular Disorders - physiopathology; Cysteine - analogs & derivatives; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dementia; Depressive Disorder - diagnostic imaging; Depressive Disorder - etiology; Depressive Disorder - physiopathology; Depressive symptom; Easy Z-score imaging system (eZIS); Female; Functional Laterality - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gyrus Cinguli - blood supply; Gyrus Cinguli - diagnostic imaging; Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Neurology; Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI); Organotechnetium Compounds; Predictive Value of Tests; Prefrontal Cortex - blood supply; Prefrontal Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology; SPECT; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2008.06.053

Depressive symptoms are common in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and contribute to clinical morbidity. Previous studies have suggested that hypoperfusion in the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus are involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Using the easy Z-score imaging system (eZIS), we investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms and prefrontal hypoperfusion in AD. Tc-99m-ethyl cysteinate dimer (Tc-99m-ECD)-single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) were performed in forty-four patients diagnosed as having Dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). These patients were divided into the depressive group (D group: n = 26) and non-depressive group (ND group: n = 18) using NPI depression items. All data from SPECT images were analyzed using eZIS software. Scores in four regions were determined by Z-values; these regions consisted of each side of the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus. The mean scores between the D group and ND group were compared. The mean scores of the left prefrontal cortex in the D group were significantly higher ( p < 0.0125) than those in the ND group. There were no significant differences in the scores of the right prefrontal cortex and the bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus between these two groups (Mann–Whitney U-test). These findings suggest that hypoperfusion in the left prefrontal area contributes to the expression of depressive symptoms in patients with DAT.