Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with suicidal attempts (SAs) among adolescents, with suicide being the most common cause of mortality in this age group. This study explored the predictive utility of support vector machine (SVM)-based analyses of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) results as a neuroimaging biomarker for aiding the diagnosis of MDD with SA in adolescents.
Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) analyses of 71 first-episode, drug-naive adolescent MDD patients with SA and 54 healthy control individuals were conducted. ALFF and SVM methods were used to analyze the imaging data.
Relative to healthy control individuals, adolescent MDD patients with a history of SAs showed reduced ALFF values in the bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus (mSFG) and bilateral precuneus. These lower ALFF values were also negatively correlated with child depression inventory (CDI) scores while reduced bilateral precuneus ALFF values were negatively correlated with Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire Junior (SIQ-JR) scores. SVM analyses showed that reduced ALFF values in the bilateral mSFG and bilateral precuneus had diagnostic accuracy levels of 76.8% (96/125) and 82.4% (103/125), respectively.
Adolescent MDD patients with a history of SA exhibited abnormal ALFF. The identified abnormalities in specific brain regions may be involved in the pathogenesis of this condition and may help identify at-risk adolescents. Specifically, reductions in the ALFF in the bilateral mSFG and bilateral precuneus may be indicative of MDD and SA in adolescent patients.