Fig. 2: Depressed patients with plasma CRP > versus ≤ 2 mg/L had higher VS-vmPFC FC after L-DOPA with respect to placebo. | Molecular Psychiatry

Fig. 2: Depressed patients with plasma CRP > versus ≤ 2 mg/L had higher VS-vmPFC FC after L-DOPA with respect to placebo.

From: Functional connectivity in reward circuitry and symptoms of anhedonia as therapeutic targets in depression with high inflammation: evidence from a dopamine challenge study

Fig. 2

In patients with VS-vmPFC rsFC available both pre- and post-L-DOPA and placebo (n = 31), rsFC responses (post minus pre) across a range of plasma CRP concentrations revealed that only patients with CRP > 2 mg/L had mean (black bars) positive responses (FC change > 0) after L-DOPA but not placebo (a). The rsFC response to L-DOPA was significantly higher in patients with CRP > versus ≤ 2 mg/L when controlling for response to placebo (b). In the full sample with analyzable rsFC data after both L-DOPA and placebo (n = 40), VS-vmPFC rsFC after L-DOPA with respect to placebo was also higher in patients with CRP > versus ≤ 2 mg/L (c). Similar relationships were observed during reward anticipation in the MID whereby VS-vmPFC tbFC after gain versus neutral cues was higher after L-DOPA with respect to placebo in patients with CRP > 2 mg/L (d). Individual subject data over violin plots with median and IQR. Abbreviations: CRP C-reactive protein, FC functional connectivity, L-DOPA levodopa, rs resting-state, tb task-based, vmPFC ventromedial prefrontal cortex, VS ventral striatum, IQR interquartile range.

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