Aberrant brain regional homogeneity in first-episode drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder: A voxel-wise meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have reported aberrant brain regional homogeneity (ReHo) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the findings across studies were confounded by medication status and different depressive episodes.

Methods: A systematic literature search of the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases was conducted. We conducted a quantitative voxel-wise meta-analysis of ReHo studies, using the Seed-based d Mapping approach, in first-episode drug-naïve patients with MDD.

Results: We identified 10 studies with 12 datasets suitable for inclusion, consisting of 402 first-episode drug-naïve patients with MDD and 330 healthy controls. The most consistent and robust findings were that patients with MDD relative to healthy controls exhibited increased ReHo in the left hippocampus and decreased ReHo in the left orbitofrontal cortex.

Limitations: The patient samples included in our meta-analysis were all Chinese, thus limiting the applicability of the present findings to other populations.

Conclusions: ReHo alterations in these brain regions are likely to reflect the core disease-related functional abnormalities, which are implicated in emotional dysregulation and cognitive impairment that are seen in the early stage of MDD. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of MDD, and the left hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex could serve as specific regions of interest for further investigations.

Keywords: Hippocampus; Major depressive disorder; Meta-analysis; Orbitofrontal cortex; Regional homogeneity; Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.