查看文章

Major depressive disorder has a complex, bidirectional relationship with metabolic dysfunction, but the neural correlates of this association are not well understood.

In this cross-sectional investigation, we used a 2-step discovery and confirmatory strategy utilizing 2 independent samples (sample 1: 288 participants, sample 2: 196 participants) to examine the association between circulating indicators of metabolic health (leptin and adiponectin) and brain structures in individuals with major depressive disorder.

We found a replicable inverse correlation between leptin levels and cortical surface area within essential brain areas responsible for emotion regulation, such as the left posterior cingulate cortex, right pars orbitalis, right superior temporal gyrus, and right insula (standardized beta coefficient range: −0.27 to −0.49, p_uncorrected < .05). Notably, this relationship was independent of C …