The relevance between antibody levels against myelin basic protein, structural neuroimaging and treatment response in patients with major depressive disorder

It has been estimated that approximately 280 million people worldwide are affected by depressive disorder, with an economic burden of approximately 210 billion dollars. According to the life years adjusted disability calculation, depression was found to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world. In this thesis, we aimed to evaluate the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and hippocampus volumes of patients with depressive seizures by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to measure the levels of autoantibodies against myelin basic protein (anti-MBP) and to evaluate the factors affecting the response to treatment. The study included 30 patients with depressive episodes and 30 healthy controls admitted to the Mental Health and Diseases Clinic of Karadeniz Technical University Hospital. Participants were administered the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) and Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST) at their first admission and brain imaging was performed with MRI. In the depressive disorder group, MADRS and HAM-D scales were repeated after two months of follow-up. Anti-MBP values were significantly higher in the depressive disorder group (p=0.004). Anti-MBP values predicted response to treatment when HAM-D scores were evaluated (p=0.048). ACC volumes were significantly correlated with changes in MADRS (p=0.023) and HAM-D (p=0.021) scores. Anti-MBP values had no significant effect on ACC and hippocampus volumes. In conclusion, our study is the first to show that anti-MBP values are significantly higher in depressive disorder compared to healthy controls and are associated with treatment response.