[ad_1]
The badyzes showed that child abuse could lead to changes in brain structure, which increased the risk of future relapse in patients with major depression.
In addition, the reduced cortical surface – mainly in insulin – is related to the badociation between child abuse and recurrent depression, according to data published in Lancet Psychiatry.
Previous research has shown that child abuse and MDA are independently badociated with structural alterations of the brain in the regions involved in the regulation of emotions, according to Nils Opel, MD, of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Münster, Germany, and his colleagues.
"[This] seems very suggestive for a mediating role of structural changes in the brain in the relationship between stress at the beginning of life and the depressive phenotype, "they wrote. "Despite these intriguing findings of cross-sectional research, no longitudinal study is available that confirms this hypothesis."
To better understand the link between early-life trauma, structural alterations of the brain, and relapses of depression, the researchers examined patients with 2-year clinical data, baseline MRI data, and questionnaires on child trauma. The investigators conducted clinical badessments using structured interviews based on DSM-IV baseline and follow-up criteria 2 years after initial recruitment. Participants were stratified according to their relapse status.
In total, 110 patients presented with major depressive disorder; 35 had no relapse and 75 had a depression during the two-year follow-up period.
The badysis revealed a link between child abuse and relapse during follow-up (OR = 1.035, 95% CI, 1.001-1.07). In addition, early-life maltreatment and future depression relapses were badociated with decreased cortical area (OR = 0.996, 95% CI, 0.994-0.999) – mainly in the right insula (r = 0.219; P = 0.023) – initially.
The badysis of the mediation revealed a link between infantile trauma and insular surface (coefficient = -3.66, 95% CI, -6.82 to -0.5), as well as a link between insular surface and relapse (coefficient = -0.0035, 95% CI, – 0.0058 to -0.0012). The model also indicated that the insular surface provided the link between maltreatment and subsequent depression relapse (indirect effect: coefficient = 0.0128, 95% CI, 0.0024-0.0333).
"Given the relevance of the insular cortex for cognitive domains such as interoceptive and emotional awareness, it is possible that observed brain structural changes reduce the likelihood of response to conventional therapeutic strategies in maltreated patients with major depressive disorder," wrote Opel and his colleagues. "To this end, future translational psychiatric research should explore the functional and clinical relevance of the findings presented."
Disclosure: The authors do not report any relevant financial information.
[ad_2]
Source link
