C-reactive protein is related to a distinct set of alterations in resting-state functional connectivity contributing to a differential pathophysiology of major depressive disorder

Fienne-Elisa Beckmann; Stephanie Seidenbecher; Coraline D Metzger; Dorothee M Gescher; Angela Carballedo; Leonardo Tozzi; Veronica O'Keane; Thomas Frodl

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2022.111440

C-reactive protein is related to a distinct set of alterations in resting-state functional connectivity contributing to a differential pathophysiology of major depressive disorder

Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2022 Apr:321:111440. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2022.111440. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Authors

Fienne-Elisa Beckmann¹, Stephanie Seidenbecher¹, Coraline D Metzger¹, Dorothee M Gescher², Angela Carballedo³, Leonardo Tozzi⁴, Veronica O'Keane³, Thomas Frodl⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany.
² Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen, Germany.
³ Department of Psychiatry and Trinity Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Trinity Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; Department of Psychiatry, University of Stanford, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Trinity Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; Department of Psychiatry, University of Stanford, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: tfrodl@ukaachen.de.

PMID: 35131572
DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2022.111440

Abstract

Background: Several studies in major depressive disorder (MDD) have found inflammation, especially C-reactive protein (CRP), to be consistently associated with MDD and network dysfunction. The aim was to investigate whether CRP is linked to a distinct set of resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) alterations.

Methods: For this reason, we investigated the effects of diagnosis and elevated blood plasma CRP levels on the RSFC in 63 participants (40 females, mean age 31.4 years) of which were 27 patients with a primary diagnosis of MDD and 36 healthy control-subjects (HC), utilizing a seed-based approach within five well-established RSFC networks obtained using fMRI.

Results: Of the ten network pairs examined, five showed increased between-network RSFC-values unambiguously connected either to a diagnosis of MDD or elevated CRP levels. For elevated CRP levels, increased RSFC between DMN and AN was found. Patients showed increased RSFC within DMN areas and between the DMN and ECN and VAN, ECN and AN and AN and DAN.

Conclusions: The results of this study show dysregulated neural circuits specifically connected to elevated plasma CRP levels and independent of other alterations of RSFC in MDD. This dysfunction in neural circuits might in turn result in a certain immune-inflammatory subtype of MDD.

Keywords: C-reactive protein; Depression; Functional networks; Resting-state functional connectivity.

MeSH terms

Adult
C-Reactive Protein
Depressive Disorder, Major* / diagnostic imaging
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male

Substances

C-Reactive Protein