Affiliations: [a] Affective Disorders Research Team, Schizophrenia & Affective Disorders Research Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan | [b] Department of Integrative Physiology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta-Tsukinowa, Ohtsu, Shiga, Japan | [c] Department of Neurology, Key Laboratory of Neurology of Hebei Province, Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Yoshitaka Tatebayashi, M.D., Ph.D., Affective Disorders Research Team, Schizophrenia & Affective Disorders Research Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, 2-1-6, Kamikitazawa, Setagaya, Tokyo 156-8506, Japan. Tel.: +81 3 5316 3100; Fax: +81 3 5316 3150; E-mail: tatebayashi-ys@igakuken.or.jp.
Abstract: The relationship between depression and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has always been relevant and controversial. Here, we briefly review epidemiological and biological studies that have investigated these disorders and then introduce our recent research about postmortem brains from patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Our novel methodological approaches have revealed that MDD may be associated with an unknown type of myelin/myelination abnormalities in the frontopolar cortex. Based mainly on our findings, as well as on neuropathological observations by Braak and Braak (Acta Neuropathol 9, 197-201, 1996), we discuss the possible existence of an as yet unknown common mechanism linking the pathophysiologies underlying both depression and AD.
