The Relationship Between Serum Concentration of Vitamin D, Total Intracranial Volume, and Severity of Depressive Symptoms in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

• Main Authors: Dao-min Zhu, Wenming Zhao, Biao Zhang, Yu Zhang, Ying Yang, Cun Zhang, Yajun Wang, Jiajia Zhu, Yongqiang Yu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-05-01
• Series: Frontiers in Psychiatry
• Subjects: major depressive disorder; magnetic resonance imaging; vitamin D; total intracranial volume; mediator
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00322/full

Background: Depression has been linked to vitamin D deficiency. However, little attention was paid to the neural substrate underlying this association.Methods: Fifty patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) were enrolled in this study. High-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging was performed to calculate total intracranial volume (TIV). Peripheral venous blood samples were collected to measure serum vitamin D concentration. Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) was used to assess severity of depression symptoms. The relationship among TIV, serum vitamin D concentration, and HAMD score was examined using correlation, linear regression, and mediation analyses.Results: In patients with MDD, HAMD score was negatively correlated with TIV and serum vitamin D concentration, and TIV was positively correlated with serum vitamin D concentration. Linear regression analyses showed that TIV and serum vitamin D concentration were significant predictors of HAMD score. Importantly, mediation analysis revealed that TIV significantly mediated the relationship between serum vitamin D concentration and HAMD score.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that TIV may serve as a potential neural biomarker for monitoring responses to adjuvant therapy of vitamin D in patients with MDD.