Central Glutathione Levels in Women With Late Life Depression: a Cross Sectional Pilot Feasibility Study

Central Glutathione Levels in Women With Late Life Depression: a Cross Sectional Pilot Feasibility Study

Female participants with an episode of late-life depression (LLD) and age-matched control participants with no history of mental disorder will attend a one hour Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). A 3 Tesla MRI scanner will be used to measure levels of glutathione (GSH) in the brain via magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS).

This is a pilot/feasibility, single-centre, open-label, cross-sectional study. Research participants will be women aged 60 to 85. This study seeks to recruit 26 female participants; 13 participants with a confirmed diagnosis of late-life depression and 13 control participants with no history of mental illness. This pilot study will be used to determine if a larger Randomized Controlled Trial is feasible.

The role of antioxidant capacity in Late Life Depression (LLD) has thus far been inadequately assessed, providing the investigators with a timely opportunity to spearhead such an investigation. The results of this pilot study, and subsequent large-scale studies, will allow the investigators to identify novel targets for therapeutic intervention in LLD.

Inclusion Criteria:

Late-life depression population inclusion criteria

• Patients in the LLD study arm will be females 60-85 years of age with a general good bill of health
• Patients in the LLD study arm will be presenting with mild to moderate MDD. Diagnosis of MDD will be confirmed through a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5-TR (SCID) Axis I disorder.
• LLD patients will have a Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (17-item version) score between 8-22
• LLD patients if being treated with any antidepressant agent, will be at a minimum of 4 weeks at therapeutic dosage of medication.

Healthy control (HC) population inclusion criteria:

• HC participants will be females between 60-85 years of age and in good general health
• HC participants will have no history of depression.

Exclusion Criteria:

• A primary diagnosis of any other mental health disorder (including substance dependence, post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, neurocognitive disorders, personality disorder, etc.)
• High risk of suicide as elicited by clinical interview
• History of head trauma
• History of severe vascular disease or cerebrovascular infarcts
• Any history of neurological disease (including Parkinson's disease or seizures)
• An ongoing acute episode of systemic inflammatory disease (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, crohn's disease)
• Any contraindications to MRI
• Additionally for Healthy Control participants only, a diagnosis of any mental health disorder