Cognitive impairment in depression is not associated with neuropathologic evidence of increased vascular or Alzheimer-type pathology

Citation
J. O'Brien et al., Cognitive impairment in depression is not associated with neuropathologic evidence of increased vascular or Alzheimer-type pathology, BIOL PSYCHI, 49(2), 2001, pp. 130-136
Citations number
43
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Neurosciences & Behavoir
Journal title
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
ISSN journal
0006-3223 → ACNP
Volume
49
Issue
2
Year of publication
2001
Pages
130 - 136
Database
ISI
SICI code
0006-3223(20010115)49:2<130:CIIDIN>2.0.ZU;2-J
Abstract
Background: Cognitive impairment is common in depression, but underlying me chanisms remain unknown. We examined whether increases in Alzheimer-type or vascular pathology are associated with cognitive impairments in elderly de pressed subjects. Methods: Eleven subjects who had died during a well-documented episode of D SM-IV major depression were included Neuropathologic assessments, blind to group membership, included standardized assessment of neuritic plaques, neu rofibrillary tangles, and Lewy Bodies in frontal, temporal, parietal, and o ccipital cortices. Braak staging of Alzheimer pathology was also performed Cerebral microvascular disease was scored according to a previously validat ed scale, and a score for cerebral and systemic atheroma of large and mediu m sized arteries was obtained. Results: No subject had Lewy bodies. Plaque and tangle counts for all subje cts were well within published norms for age-marched control subjects. Ther e were no significant differences in plaque or tangle counts between subjec ts who were cognitively impaired (n = 5) and those who were nonimpaired (n = 6) during their depressive illness. Similarly, neither total microvascula r pathology nor deep frontal microvascular pathology differed between the t wo groups. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the liability for some patients to d evelop cognitive impairment during a depressive episode is not related to a n increase in Alzheimer-type or vascular neuropathologic change. This indic ates that other mechanisms must underlie both the cognitive impairment asso ciated with depression and the observation that depression is a risk factor for dementia. (C) 2001 Society of Biological Psychiatry.