Pituitary gland volume in currently depressed and remitted depressed patients
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with increased pituitary gland volume (PGV), which is thought to reflect stress-related dysregulation related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. However, it is unclear whether PGV alteration reflects a "dynamic" change related to current mood instability or if it is a stable marker of illness vulnerability. In this study we investigated PGV in currently depressed patients (cMDD) (n=31), remitted depressed patients (rMDD) (n=31) and healthy controls (n=33), using 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The groups were matched for age and gender. We found no significant PGV, intra-cranial volume (ICV) or whole brain volume (WBV) differences between cMDD patients, rMDD patients and healthy controls. Furthermore, PGV was not correlated with clinical features of depression (e.g., age of onset; number of episodes; and scores on subscales of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, and the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire). In conclusion, PGV does not appear to be a marker of current or past MDD in adult patients.
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Pituitary volume changes have been reported in MDD with both increased, reduced or no change in volume.
“Pituitary volume changes have been reported in MDD with both increased (46, 47), reduced or not change in volume reported (48–50).”
From Childhood Trauma, the HPA Axis and Psychiatric Illnesses: A Targeted Literature Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [49]
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Childhood Trauma, the HPA Axis and Psychiatric Illnesses: A Targeted Literature Synthesis
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- Authors
- Lorenzetti, V., Allen, N. B., Fornito, A., Pantelis, C., De Plato, G., Ang, A., & Yücel, M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-04
- Volume
- 172
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 55-60
- ISSN
- 0925-4927 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2039439336
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Australian Research Council (DP0557663)
- Università di Bologna
- National Health and Medical Research Council (509345, 350241)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- pituitary gland volume, major depressive disorder, remitted depression, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, brain volume, total brain volume, depression biomarkers, mood instability
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain, Depressive Disorder, Major, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Functional Laterality, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Pituitary Gland, Biomarkers
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