Pituitary gland volume in currently depressed and remitted depressed patients

Lorenzetti, Valentina; Allen, Nicholas B.; Fornito, Alex; Pantelis, Christos; De Plato, Giovanni; Ang, Anthony; Yücel, Murat

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.06.006

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 172, Issue 1 , Pages 55-60, 30 April 2009

Pituitary gland volume in currently depressed and remitted depressed patients

Valentina Lorenzetti
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, VIC. Australia
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC. Australia
- The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, VIC. Australia
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40126, Bologna, Italy
Nicholas B. Allen
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC. Australia
- The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, VIC. Australia
Alex Fornito
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, VIC. Australia
Christos Pantelis
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, VIC. Australia
Giovanni De Plato
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40126, Bologna, Italy
Anthony Ang
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, VIC. Australia
Murat Yücel
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, VIC. Australia
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC. Australia
- The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, VIC. Australia
- Corresponding author. Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, c/o AG Building, 161 Barry St, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia. Tel.: +61 3 8344 1877; fax: +61 3 9348 0469.

Received 13 January 2008; received in revised form 11 April 2008; accepted 12 June 2008.

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with increased pituitary gland volume (PGV), which is thought to reflect stress-related dysregulation related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. However, it is unclear whether PGV alteration reflects a “dynamic” change related to current mood instability or if it is a stable marker of illness vulnerability. In this study we investigated PGV in currently depressed patients (cMDD) (n=31), remitted depressed patients (rMDD) (n=31) and healthy controls (n=33), using 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The groups were matched for age and gender. We found no significant PGV, intra-cranial volume (ICV) or whole brain volume (WBV) differences between cMDD patients, rMDD patients and healthy controls. Furthermore, PGV was not correlated with clinical features of depression (e.g., age of onset; number of episodes; and scores on subscales of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, and the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire). In conclusion, PGV does not appear to be a marker of current or past MDD in adult patients.