Ding Jie, Peng Junfeng, Zhang Qian
College Student Mental Health Education Center, Xinyang Vocational and Technical College, Xinyang, China.
Student Affairs Office, Xinyang Vocational and Technical College, Xinyang, China.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2025 Feb;19(1):148-158. doi: 10.1007/s11682-024-00960-0. Epub 2024 Nov 30.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a pervasive mental disorder that significantly impairs functional capabilities, underscoring the necessity for precise stratification of its severity to facilitate tailored treatment. This study investigated the utility of voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data as a neuroimaging biomarker to differentiate varying severities of MDD in a sample drawn from the REST-meta-MDD project, which included 392 first-episode MDD patients and 440 healthy controls (HC) from 9 sites. Patients were classified into mild to moderate and severe depression groups according to the 17-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) scores. VMHC differences between these subgroups and their associations with HAMD scores were further examined. The results revealed significant reductions in VMHC within the fusiform gyrus for patients with mild to moderate depression compared to HCs, alongside more extensive reductions across the insula, postcentral gyrus, and angular gyrus in severe depression. Notably, increased VMHC in the middle cingulate cortex was identified in severe MDD patients relative to those with mild to moderate depression, with this increase showed a significant positive correlation with the HAMD scores. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that VMHC values in these regions effectively differentiate patients from HCs and across varying severities of MDD. These findings suggest that VMHC could serve as a valuable metric for clinical diagnosis and the stratification of depression severity, providing insights into the underlying neurobiological mechanisms associated with the disorder.
重度抑郁症（MDD）是一种普遍存在的精神障碍，会严重损害功能能力，这凸显了精确分层其严重程度以促进个性化治疗的必要性。本研究调查了源自静息态功能磁共振成像（fMRI）数据的体素镜像同伦连接性（VMHC）作为一种神经影像学生物标志物在区分MDD不同严重程度方面的效用，该研究样本来自REST-meta-MDD项目，包括来自9个地点的392名首发MDD患者和440名健康对照（HC）。根据17项汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD）评分将患者分为轻度至中度抑郁组和重度抑郁组。进一步检查了这些亚组之间的VMHC差异及其与HAMD评分的关联。结果显示，与健康对照相比，轻度至中度抑郁症患者梭状回内的VMHC显著降低，而在重度抑郁症患者中，岛叶、中央后回和角回的VMHC降低更为广泛。值得注意的是，与轻度至中度抑郁症患者相比，重度MDD患者的扣带中部皮质VMHC增加，且这种增加与HAMD评分呈显著正相关。此外，受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线分析表明，这些区域的VMHC值能够有效地区分患者与健康对照以及不同严重程度的MDD。这些发现表明，VMHC可作为临床诊断和抑郁症严重程度分层的有价值指标，为了解该疾病相关的潜在神经生物学机制提供见解。
