Anterior cingulate cortex choline levels in female adolescents with unipolar versus bipolar depression: A potential new tool for diagnosis

摘要

BackgroundDelayed diagnosis in bipolar disorder (BD) due to misdiagnosis as major depressive disorder (MDD) is a significant public health concern. Thus, identification of relevant diagnostic biomarkers is a critical unmet need, particularly early in the course of illness. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is thought to play an important role in mood disorder pathophysiology. Case-control studies utilizing proton-1 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) have found increased total choline levels in several brain regions in MDD. However, there are no published ¹H-MRS reports directly comparing adolescents with MDD and BD. We hypothesized that ACC choline levels would be increased in adolescents with unipolar versus bipolar depression.