AUTHOR=Mei Lan , Wang Yuting , Liu Chunyang , Mou Jingping , Yuan Yizhi , Qiu Lihua , Gong Qiyong 

TITLE=Study of Sex Differences in Unmedicated Patients With Major Depressive Disorder by Using Resting State Brain Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.814410

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2022.814410

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=Some important clinical features of major depressive disorder (MDD) differ a lot in different genders. We explore abnormal spontaneous neuronal activity in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients by using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and the relationship between the abnormal ALFF and clinical manifestations in male and female patients, trying to seek the neural mechanisms underneath the sex-related differences in depression. Twenty-five male MDD patients, 36 female MDD patients and well matched 25 male and 36 female healthy controls were included in this study. The ALFF difference was used to investigate among 4 groups and partial correlation analysis was conducted to observe a possible clinical relevance in MDD patients. Major result of gender differences was located in bilateral caudate nucleus and posterior cingulate gyrus. Post-hoc comparisons found the male MDD patients showed decreased ALFF in bilateral caudate nucleus and posterior cingulate gyrus when compared with female MDD patients/female healthy controls. There was a positive correlation between average ALFF values of the right caudate nucleus and the illness duration in female MDD patients. Our results suggest that the sex specific abnormal brain activity might be an important underlying pathomechanism of different somatic symptoms in male and female MDD patients.