There is considerable interest in the possibility that late life depression refractory to conventional medication is associated with abnormalities of the arterial circulation. Studies from our laboratory have demonstrated increased intimal medial thickening in medium sized arteries as well as impaired endothelium dependent relaxation and increased vascular hypertrophy in small resistance size vessels from patients with depression but with a similar cardiovascular risk profile to match control subjects. Depressed patients had significantly more dilated Virchow-Robin spaces in the basal ganglia as imaged by magnetic resonance. The overall impression is that such patients might well benefit from vasculo-protective measures to improve endothelial function or retard the progression of atherosclerosis in an attempt to improve depression scores and overall mood.
Physiology 2014 (London, UK) (2014) Proc Physiol Soc 31, SA058
Research Symposium: Structural and functional properties of the circulation in late life depression
A. Heagerty1, A. Greenstein1, R. Paranthaman2, R. Malik1, A. Burns1, R. Baldwin1
1. The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. 2. Royal Bolton Hospital, Bolton, United Kingdom.
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