Citation

McLellan Q, Wilkes TC, Swansburg R, Jaworska N, Langevin LM, MacMaster FP. J. Affect. Disord. 2018; 239: 291-294.

Affiliation

Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Strategic Clinical Network for Addictions and Mental Health, Calgary, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Canada; Department of Psychiatry and Paediatrics, University of Calgary, Canada. Electronic address: fmacmast@ucalgary.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2018.07.030

PMID

30031248

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests an endophenotype for suicidality, including brain morphometric features, could provide an improved platform for suicide risk assessment. Reduced right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG) volumes have been implicated in suicidality across psychiatric disorders. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has unique neurobiology and adolescents with TRD are at increased suicide risk. Here, we investigated whether reduced rSTG volume was present in adolescents with TRD and history of suicide attempt.

METHODS: 45 adolescents - 14 with history of suicide attempt and TRD, 14 without a suicide attempt history and TRD, and 17 healthy controls - underwent magnetic resonance imaging and reconstructed rSTG volumes were compared. Depressive and anxious symptoms were assessed with Hamilton depression and anxiety rating scales, and differences between attempters and non-attempters were explored.

RESULTS: Adolescents with TRD and history of suicide attempt showed reduced rSTG volume compared to healthy controls. Exploratory analyses revealed greater diurnal variation in depressive symptoms in the suicide attempt group compared to non-attempters. LIMITATIONS: Sample size and temporal separation between suicide attempt date and data collection limits interpretation of findings.

CONCLUSIONS: Reduced rSTG volume may serve as a marker of suicide attempt in adolescence and specific symptom features may have a role in suicide risk assessment. Presently, risk assessment is limited by patient self-report and clinical judgement. A biological model of suicidality will be key to improve risk assessment and could lead to novel treatment approaches. Our findings extend previous results and contribute to our neurobiological understanding of suicidality.

Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescents; Biomarker; Depression; Magnetic resonance imaging; Suicidality; Superior temporal gyrus