Assessing the Role of Past Depression in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment, with and without Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease

Angela C Golas; Patrick Salwierz; Tarek K Rajji; Christopher R Bowie; Meryl A Butters; Corinne E Fischer; Alastair J Flint; Nathan Herrmann; Linda Mah; Benoit H Mulsant; Bruce G Pollock; Foad Taghdiri; Wei Wang; M Carmela Tartaglia; PACt-MD Study Group

doi:10.3233/JAD-221097

Assessing the Role of Past Depression in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment, with and without Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease

J Alzheimers Dis. 2023;92(4):1219-1227. doi: 10.3233/JAD-221097.

Authors

Angela C Golas^{1

2}, Patrick Salwierz^{1

3

4}, Tarek K Rajji^{1

2

5}, Christopher R Bowie^{1

6}, Meryl A Butters⁷, Corinne E Fischer^{2

8}, Alastair J Flint^{2

9}, Nathan Herrmann^{2

10}, Linda Mah^{2

11}, Benoit H Mulsant^{1

2}, Bruce G Pollock^{1

2}, Foad Taghdiri³, Wei Wang¹, M Carmela Tartaglia^{3

4}; PACt-MD Study Group

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Toronto Dementia Research Alliance, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
⁸ Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁹ University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) is implicated in MDD and AD. Our study compared participants with AD positive and negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers on neuropsychological performance, remitted MDD status, and CVD burden. Next, we compared AD-CSF biomarkers and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) burden among three groups: mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n = 12), MCI with remitted MDD (MDD+MCI) (n = 12), and remitted MDD alone (MDD) (n = 7). Few participants (18%) with MCI+MDD exhibited AD(+) biomarkers. Nearly all participants had moderate-severe WMH. WMH may contribute to cognitive impairment or depression in MCI patients with AD(-) biomarkers.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; cerebrovascular disease; major depressive disorder; mild neurocognitive disorder.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Alzheimer Disease* / psychology
Amyloid beta-Peptides / cerebrospinal fluid
Biomarkers / cerebrospinal fluid
Cardiovascular Diseases* / complications
Cognitive Dysfunction* / cerebrospinal fluid
Depression
Depressive Disorder, Major* / complications
Humans
Neuropsychological Tests
tau Proteins / cerebrospinal fluid

Substances

Biomarkers
Amyloid beta-Peptides
tau Proteins