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Data-driven clustering differentiates subtypes of major depressive disorder with distinct brain connectivity and symptom features

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2021

Yanlin Wang
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Shi Tang
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Lianqing Zhang
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Xuan Bu
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Lu Lu
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Hailong Li
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Yingxue Gao
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Xinyu Hu
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Weihong Kuang
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China
Zhiyun Jia
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China; Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China; and Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
John A. Sweeney
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China; and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Qiyong Gong
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China; Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China; and Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
Xiaoqi Huang*
Affiliation:
Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China; Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China; and Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
*
Correspondence: Dr Xiaoqi Huang. Email: julianahuang@163.com
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Abstract

Background

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a clinically and biologically heterogeneous syndrome. Identifying discrete subtypes of illness with distinguishing neurobiological substrates and clinical features is a promising strategy for guiding personalised therapeutics.

Aims

This study aimed to identify depression subtypes with correlated patterns of functional network connectivity and clinical symptoms by clustering patients according to a weighted linear combination of both features in a relatively large, medication-naïve depression sample.

Method

We recruited 115 medication-naïve adults with MDD and 129 matched healthy controls, and evaluated all participants with magnetic resonance imaging. We used regularised canonical correlation analysis to identify component mapping relationships between functional network connectivity and symptom profiles, and K-means clustering was used to define distinct subtypes of patients.

Results

Two subtypes of MDD were identified: insomnia-dominated subtype 1 and anhedonia-dominated subtype 2. Subtype 1 was characterised by abnormal hyperconnectivity within the ventral attention network and sleep maintenance insomnia. Subtype 2 was characterised by abnormal hypoconnectivity in the subcortical and dorsal attention networks, and prominent anhedonia symptoms.

Conclusions

Our study identified two distinct subtypes of patients with specific neurobiological and clinical symptom profiles. These findings advance understanding of the biological and clinical heterogeneity of MDD, offering a pathway for defining categorical subtypes of illness via consideration of both biological and clinical features.

Information

Type
Paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Figure 0

Fig. 1 Overview of data processing and analysis pipeline. Group independent component analysis (ICA) was used to calculate and extract the average signal time series from brain parcellations. Following data reduction steps, connectivity networks and clinical symptoms were used to perform a regularised canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Regarding the discovery of categorical biotypes, K-means clustering was used to test identify subtypes defined by associations between functional network connectivity and symptoms patterns. Finally, the Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to test for differences in the severity of clinical symptom scores between subtypes. The generalised linear modelanalyses were performed to examine common and distinct network connectivity patterns across groups. The associations between specific symptoms and distinct network connectivity patterns were examined with partial least squares regression. DAN, dorsal attention network; DMN, default mode network; FPN, frontoparietal network; HRSA, Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety; HRSD, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; LIM, limbic network; MDD, major depressive disorder; SMN, sensorimotor network; VAN, ventral attention network.

Figure 1

Fig. 2 The functional network connectivity (FNC) differences between MDD, MDD subtypes and healthy controls. (a) Nine functional networks identified by group independent component analysis. (b) Whole-brain 64 × 64 averaged functional connectivity matrix between independent component pairs was computed over all participants. The value in the correlation matrix represents the Fisher's z-transformed Pearson correlation coefficient. (c) Heat map and circular plot showing features that were significantly abnormal in patients with MDD relative to healthy controls. (d) Heat map showing significant results of ANOVA in FNC among MDD subtypes and healthy controls. (e) Circular plots showing significant FNC patterns between subtype 1, subtype 2 and healthy controls, using post hoc analyses. Results of statistical comparisons were thresholded at connection-wise P < 0.001 with false discovery rate–corrected P < 0.05. DAN, dorsal attention network; DMN, default mode network; FPN, frontoparietal network; LIM, limbic network; MDD, major depressive disorder; SMN, sensorimotor network; VAN, ventral attention network.

Figure 2

Table 1 Demographic features of the two subtypes of patients with major depressive disorder and healthy controls

Figure 3

Fig. 3 Subtype-specific clinical profiles for (a) depression symptoms and (b) anxiety symptoms that varied most significantly by cluster (P < 0.05, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, false discovery rate corrected). Each item value was z-transformed with respect to the mean for all patients in each subtype. (c) Boxplot of subtype differences in overall depression and anxiety severity (total HRSD/HRSA score). (d) Loadings of the distinct functional network connectivity (FNC) and clinical symptoms from partial least squares regression (PLSR) in each of the two identified subtypes. The left graph shows loadings of PLSR relating distinct FNC (within the VAN) to insomnia-middle (D5) in subtype 1; the right graph shows loadings of PLSR relating distinct FNC (between the subcortical network and DAN) to anhedonia symptoms (D7) in subtype 2. Items in HRSA and HRSD rating instruments are presented on the y-axis (e.g. D7 is the seventh item of HRSD). The asterisk indicates significant difference from mean symptom severity rating for all patients, P < 0.05; error bars depict s.e.m. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.005, ***P < 0.001.

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