Studies of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have consistently reported reduced hippocampal volumes; however, the exact pattern of these volume changes in specific anatomical subfields and their functional significance is unclear. We sought to clarify the relationship between hippocampal tail volumes and (i) a diagnosis of MDD, and (ii) clinical remission to anti-depressant medications (ADMs). Outpatients with nonpsychotic MDD (n=202) based on DSM-IV criteria and a 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD₁₇) score ⩾16 underwent pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging as part of the international Study to Predict Optimized Treatment for Depression (iSPOT-D). Gender-matched healthy controls (n=68) also underwent MRI scanning. An automated pipeline was used to objectively measure hippocampal subfield and whole brain volumes. Remission was defined as an HRSD₁₇ of ⩽7 following 8 weeks of randomized open-label treatment ADMs: escitalopram, sertraline or venlafaxine-extended release. After controlling for age and total brain volume, hippocampal tail volume was larger in the MDD cohort compared to control subjects. Larger hippocampal tail volume was positively related to clinical remission, independent of total hippocampal volume, total brain volume and age. These data provide convergent evidence of the importance of the hippocampus in the development or treatment of MDD. Hippocampal tail volume is proposed as a potentially useful biomarker of sensitivity to ADM treatment.

中文翻译：

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海马尾巴容积的增加预示着抑郁症的状态以及重度抑郁症患者抗抑郁药物的缓解。

对重度抑郁症（MDD）患者的研究一致报告了海马体积减少。然而，这些体积变化在特定解剖亚域中的确切模式及其功能意义尚不清楚。我们试图阐明海马尾部容积与（i）MDD的诊断和（ii）抗抑郁药（ADM）的临床缓解之间的关系。基于DSM-IV标准和17个项的抑郁症汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HRSD ₁₇）的非精神病性MDD门诊患者（n = 202））对得分⩾16进行了预处理磁共振成像，这是国际研究预测抑郁症最佳治疗方法（iSPOT-D）的一部分。性别匹配的健康对照组（n = 68）也接受了MRI扫描。使用自动管道来客观地测量海马亚区和整个大脑的体积。缓解定义为HRSD ₁₇随机开放标签治疗ADM的8周后约7分之1：依西酞普兰，舍曲林或文拉法辛延长释放。在控制了年龄和总脑容量之后，MDD队列中的海马尾巴容量比对照组大。海马较大的尾巴体积与临床缓解呈正相关，与海马总体积，脑总体积和年龄无关。这些数据为海马在MDD的发展或治疗中的重要性提供了越来越多的证据。提出海马尾体积作为对ADM治疗敏感性的潜在有用的生物标志物。