ABSTRACT
Objective ·To study changes of morphological characteristics of pituitary glands Objective · To study changes of morphological characteristics of pituitary glandsin normal adults by high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods · A total of 245 healthy adults were scanned by 3.0T MRI to measurewidths,lengths,heights and volumes of pituitary glands and observe pituitary gland morphology. Results · The average height of pituitary was (5.47±1.33) mm inmales and (6.06±1.32) mm in females; the average volume of pituitary was (614.07±125.52) mm3 in males and (660.00±117.35) mm3 in females. The difference betweenthe genders was statistically significant (P<0.01). The pituitary height was positively related to the pituitary volume (r=0.829,P<0.01). Except the pituitary lengths, there was statistically significance in the pituitary widths, heights and volumes among different age groups (P<0.05), and all of them were negatively correlated with age (P<0.01). Conclusion · The pituitary heights and volumes peak in the 18-29 age group in adults and tend to decline with increased age. In female subjects, however, there is a tendency of pituitary heights and volumes to increaseagain in the 50-59 age group. The average height and volume of female pituitary glands are significantly greater than those of males.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the changes of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)function, volume of the hypothalamic, pituitary and adrenal glands in elderly patients with depression. Methods Twenty-five cases of elderly patients with depression and 19 healthy elderly patients were enrolled into the patient group and the healthy control group, respectively. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the level of the main hormone related with HPA axis in blood. The low dose dexamethasone suppression test was used to assessassessment the negative feedback regulation of HPA axis. The volume of the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands were determined by the magnetic resonance imaging. Results The Beck Depression Scale (BDI-II) and Montgomerie Rating Scale (MADRs) score of the elderly depression patients were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group (P < 0.01). The values of main hormone related with HPA axis in the patient group, such as CRH, ACTH and CORT, were higher than those in the healthy control group (P<0.01). The non- suppression rate of low dose dexamethasone suppression test in the patient group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (P < 0.05). The hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal gland volume of patients group were 4.7%, 18.3% and 17.5% ,respectively. Significant the differences of pituitary and adrenal volume were observed between two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion The levels of main hormone related with HPA axis in the elderly patients with depression were significantly increased, the non-suppression rate of low dose dexamethasone suppression test was also increased. Meanwhile, the volume of pituitary and adrenal gland in the elderly patients with depression increased.