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Biomedical subjects

M M Husain

Publications and source records attributed to M M Husain.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Magnetic resonance imaging of the caudate nuclei in depression. Preliminary observations.

A role of the caudate nucleus in depression has been suggested from relevant clinical conditions, such as patients with Huntington's disease or caudate infarcts, as well as animal studies. Correlations of caudate nucleus disease with depressive symptoms have been limited to autopsy studies and cases of gross pathological disorder, such as large infarcts. We used serial axial high-field magnetic resonance images and an unbiased stereological technique to estimate the volumes of the caudate nuclei in 50 patients who met DSM-III criteria for major depression (23 men, 48.3 +/- 17 years old) in comparison with 50 age- and gender-matched normal controls free of major neurological and psychiatric disorders. Depressed patients had smaller caudate nucleus volumes (5.2 +/- 1.6 cm3) compared with controls (6.2 +/- 1.7 cm3). Right and left caudate nucleus volumes were smaller in depressed patients compared with controls. Age was negatively correlated with caudate nucleus volumes in depressed patients as well as in controls. Caudate nucleus volumes in depressed patients were inversely correlated with the bicaudate and bifrontal indices. These results may be the first demonstration of diminished caudate nucleus volumes in depression and suggest a role for the caudate nucleus in the pathogenesis of major depression.

Age Factors

Circulatory responses during electroconvulsive therapy. The comparative effects of placebo, esmolol and nitroglycerin.

Electroconvulsive therapy is usually accompanied by activation of the autonomic nervous system, which may be harmful in patients with cerebrovascular or ischaemic heart disease. We have compared this haemodynamic response in a series of 82 electroconvulsive treatments randomly assigned to receive either nitroglycerin 3 micrograms.kg-1, esmolol 2 mg.kg-1 or placebo. These drugs were given shortly after the suxamethonium and 2 min before the electroconvulsive therapy in all cases. Heart rate was significantly lower with esmolol 1 min after therapy as was blood pressure (systolic and diastolic). The pulse rate was higher following nitroglycerin than placebo, which in turn was higher than esmolol. The three groups did not differ with regard to seizure duration. The results demonstrate that esmolol is more effective than nitroglycerin in controlling the haemodynamic response to electroconvulsive therapy. With recent emphasis on stabilisation of heart rate in preference to blood pressure in at-risk cardiac patients, our study suggests that, in the doses selected, esmolol is preferred to nitroglycerin to control the heart rate response to electroconvulsive therapy.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists

Posterior fossa abnormalities in major depression: a controlled magnetic resonance imaging study.

High-field magnetic resonance (MR) images were used to study posterior fossa morphology in 27 patients with major depression and 36 normal control subjects. Depressed patients demonstrated smaller brain stem and cerebellar vermis than controls. These differences were highly significant for the anterior cerebellar vermis and medulla. There was also a striking age-related decline in midbrain size in depressed patients as well as in controls. Our results are consistent with several lines of evidence implicating a role for the cerebellar vermis in affective disorders and, in addition, provide the first MR documentation of the differential effects of aging on posterior fossa morphology in normal subjects compared with patients with major depression.

Adult

Magnetic resonance findings in patients with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

The magnetic resonance scans of 22 patients with early-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) were compared to 16 age-matched neurologically normal controls for the presence of white matter subcortical hyperintensities (SCH) and periventricular hyperintensities (PVH). Patients with AD were significantly more likely to have evidence of PVH (p less than 0.01) than age-matched controls. There was no significant difference between the two groups in either the frequency of SCH or the size of the largest lesion. Within the AD group, there was no difference demonstrated in the location of the SCH, either in the anterior-posterior plane or between the two hemispheres. Patients with AD more frequently demonstrated ventriculomegaly (p less than 0.001) and sulcal widening (p less than 0.05) compared with controls. This study suggests that the SCH seen in early-onset AD patients on MRI are related more to the aging process than to the AD process and that the increased frequency of PVH may have a relationship to the disease process.

Aged

Platelet [3H]-imipramine binding and leukoencephalopathy in geriatric depression.

We examined the relationship between platelet [3H]-imipramine binding and leukoencephalopathy as assessed by 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in 21 elderly depressed patients who satisfied DSM-III criteria for major depression. Both drug-free platelet [3H]-imipramine binding and brain MRI studies were obtained during the same episode of depression. Our findings show a significant inverse relationship between frequency of subcortical hyperintensity (SCH) and the number (Bmax) of platelet [3H]-imipramine binding sites. Patients with Bmax less than 850 fmol/mg protein had significantly larger SCH compared with patients with a higher Bmax. These data provide further support to the potential use of platelet [3H]-imipramine binding studies and brain MR imaging as diagnostic adjuncts in geriatric depression and suggest, moreover, that these two biological markers may be linked in geriatric patients with depression.

Aged

Pituitary abnormalities in eating disorders: further evidence from MRI studies.

1. The frequent occurrence of hypothalamo-pituitary dysfunction in patients with eating disorders as well as prior reports that nutritional and endocrine status influence pituitary morphology, led us to hypothesize that pituitary size and shape may be altered in patients with eating disorders. 2. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not use ionizing radiation and is currently one of the most feasible modalities available to study the pituitary gland in vivo. Using MRI, we have previously reported in a preliminary study that female patients with eating disorders had significantly smaller pituitary glands than controls. In addition MRI excluded any pituitary mass lesions. 3. In this report, we confirm our previous MRI findings and provide further evidence of pituitary abnormalities in an expanded sample of eating disorder patients. Preliminary data on pituitary volume estimates from MRI scans are provided for a subset of patients and controls.

Adolescent

A magnetic resonance imaging study of putamen nuclei in major depression.

The basal ganglia are recognized as putative mediators of certain cognitive and behavioral symptoms of major depression. Moreover, patients with basal ganglia lesions have repeatedly exhibited significant affective symptomatology, including apathy, depressive mood, and psychosis. Using high resolution, axial T2 intermediate magnetic resonance images, and a systematic sampling stereologic method, we assessed putamen nuclei volumes in 41 patients with major depression (DSM-III) and 44 healthy volunteer controls of similar age. Depressed patients had significantly smaller putamen nuclei compared with controls. Age was negatively correlated with putamen size in both groups. These results are the first demonstration of diminished putamen volumes in depression and further support a role for basal ganglia structures in the etiopathogenesis of depression.

Adult

The brain stem reticular formation in schizophrenia.

Post-mortem brain tissue was obtained from four patients with schizophrenia and five controls to study cell groups in the brain stem reticular formation. Cholinergic neurons in the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) and lateral dorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT) were labeled using nicotinamide adenosine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase histochemistry, while catecholaminergic neurons of the locus ceruleus (LC) were labeled immunocytochemically using an antibody to tyrosine hydroxylase. In schizophrenic patients, there were increased numbers of neurons in the PPN labeled by NADPH-diaphorase and reduced cell size in the LC. These results implicate the reticular formation as a possible pathophysiological site for at least some patients with schizophrenia. This also suggests that some of the deficits observed may be based on faulty neurodevelopment.

Aged

Hippocampal abnormalities in depression.

A quantitative magnetic resonance imaging study of regional brain T1 spin-lattice relaxation times in 29 normal volunteers and in 20 patients with major depression revealed significantly shortened T1 relaxation times for the hippocampus in depressed patients. These differences were particularly prominent in elderly depressed patients. T1 relaxation times are reflective of the content and macromolecular environment of tissue water protons; shorter hippocampal T1 values may reflect differences in the content or organizational properties of hippocampal water protons. These findings are consistent with several lines of evidence that have implicated a role for the hippocampus in the regulation of mood and in the pathophysiology of the stress response, and they suggest that major depression may be associated with biophysical tissue changes in the aging hippocampus.

Adult

Aging of the human corpus callosum: magnetic resonance imaging in normal volunteers.

A brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of the corpus callosum in 36 normal volunteers, ages 26-79 years, revealed that age was positively correlated with the T1 spin-lattice relaxation time of the corpus callosum and was negatively correlated with the corpus callosum cross-sectional area. T1 relaxation times are sensitive to the content and macromolecular environment of tissue water, and variations in callosal T1 may reflect differences in the content or relaxation properties of callosal water. Such changes also potentially could occur secondary to alterations in the composition of callosal myelin. This study confirms and extends prior morphological studies that have reported age-related dimensional changes in the corpus callosum and, in addition, provides evidence of age-related biophysical tissue differences in the human corpus callosum.

Adult

Pituitary size in depression.

Magnetic resonance images centered at the pituitary stalk were used to measure pituitary gland size in 19 patients with major depression compared with that in age- and sex-matched controls. Depressed patients had significantly greater pituitary cross-sectional area (P = 0.0009) and volume (P = 0.007) than the controls. This difference was particularly prominent in elderly depressed patients compared to elderly controls. These results provide the first demonstration of structural alterations in the pituitary gland in major depression.

Adult

MRI quantification.

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Alzheimer Disease

Cerebral white matter disease in late-onset paranoid psychosis.

We examined magnetic resonance (MR) scans of the heads of 8 patients with late onset psychosis and 8 aged controls. Although some patients had mild cognitive impairment, none had depression or a history or examination suggesting focal brain disease. Thus, all patients met DSM-III-R criteria for late-onset schizophrenia. All 8 patients showed significant leukoencephalopathy or vascular pathology on MR imaging, and temporoparietal and occipital lesions were especially prominent. Little such pathology was evident on control scans. We suggest that focal brain disease of vascular origin may be associated with late-onset psychosis, and that MR scanning of such cases may provide important clues to pathogenesis.

Aged