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Neural correlates of free T3 alteration after catecholamine depletion in subjects with remitted major depressive disorder and in controls

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Abstract

Rationale

Thyroid hormones and their interactions with catecholamines play a potentially important role in alterations of mood and cognition.

Objectives

This study aimed to examine the neurobiological effects of catecholamine depletion on thyroid hormones by measuring endocrine and cerebral metabolic function in unmedicated subjects with remitted major depressive disorder (RMDD) and in healthy controls.

Methods

This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind crossover trial that included 15 unmedicated RMDD subjects and 13 healthy control subjects. The participants underwent two 3-day-long sessions at 1-week intervals; each participant was randomly administered oral α-methyl-para-tyrosine in one session (catecholamine depletion) and an identical capsule containing hydrous lactose (sham depletion) in the other session prior to a [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scan.

Results

Serum concentrations of free T3 (FT3), free T4 (FT4), and TSH were obtained and assessed with respect to their relationship to regional cerebral glucose metabolism. Both serum FT3 (P = 0.002) and FT4 (P = 0.0009) levels were less suppressed after catecholamine depletion compared with placebo treatment in the entire study sample. There was a positive association between both FT3 (P = 0.0005) and FT4 (P = 0.002) and depressive symptoms measured using the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale. The relative elevation in FT3 level was correlated with a decrease in regional glucose metabolism in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC; P < 0.05, corrected).

Conclusions

This study provided evidence of an association between a thyroid–catecholamine interaction and mood regulation in the rDLPFC.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Nicolas Rodondi for his valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Philipp Homan

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Laureate Institute for Brain Research, The University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, Tulsa, OK, 74136, USA

    Wayne C. Drevets

  3. University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bolligenstrasse 111, 3000, Bern, Switzerland

    Gregor Hasler

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  1. Philipp Homan
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  2. Wayne C. Drevets
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Correspondence to Gregor Hasler.

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Homan, P., Drevets, W.C. & Hasler, G. Neural correlates of free T3 alteration after catecholamine depletion in subjects with remitted major depressive disorder and in controls. Psychopharmacology 231, 409–417 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3250-2

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