Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. X:X | DOI: 10.5507/bp.2023.026

Retinal microvascular abnormalities in major depression

Evgenii Sadykov1, Ladislav Hosak1, Alexandr Stepanov2, Jana Zapletalova3, Jan Studnicka2
1 Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Charles University and University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
2 Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Charles University and University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
3 Department of Medical Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic

Background: The aim of our study was to find a possible association between retinal microvascular abnormality and major depression in a non-geriatric population.

Method: The participants with major depression were hospitalised at the University Hospital in Hradec Kralove, Department of Psychiatry. Retinal images were obtained using a stationary Fundus camera FF450 by Zeiss and a hand-held camera by oDocs.

Results: Fifty patients (men n=18, women n=32) aged 16 to 55 (men's average age 33.7±9.9 years, women's average age 37.9±11.5 years) were compared with fifty mentally healthy subjects (men n=28, women n=22) aged 18 to 61 (men's average age 35.3±9.2 years, women's average age 36.6±10.6 years) in a cross-sectional design. The patients were diagnosed with a single depressive episode (n=26) or a recurrent depressive disorder (n=24) according to the ICD-10 classification. Our results confirmed significant microvascular changes in the retina in patients with depressive disorder in comparison to the control group of mentally healthy subjects, with significantly larger arteriolar (P<0.0001) as well as venular (P<0.001-0.0001) calibres in major depression.

Conclusion: According to the literature, acute and chronic neuroinflammation is associated with changes in microvascular form and function. The endothelium becomes a major participant in the inflammatory response damaging the surrounding tissue and its function. Because the retina and brain tissue share a common embryonic origin, we suspect similar microvascular pathology in the retina and in the brain in major depression. Our results may contribute to a better understanding of depression etiopathogenesis and to its personalized treatment.

Keywords: depression, retinal microvascular abnormality, biomarker, neuroinflammation

Received: February 11, 2023; Revised: May 25, 2023; Accepted: June 8, 2023; Prepublished online: July 17, 2023 

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