Table 1 Primary meta-analyses of neurometabolite levels in anxiety disorders.

From: Transdiagnostic reduction in cortical choline-containing compounds in anxiety disorders: a 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy meta-analysis

 

Region

K

Pts

HC

Effect Size (95% CI)

P value

Percent Diffa Pt - HC

Heterogeneity I2%, Q, P value

tCho

ACC

7

109

112

+0.01 (−0.35 to +0.36)

0.96

+0.7%

41.0, 10.4, 0.11

 

PFCb

6

78

89

−0.46 (−0.15 to −0.77)

0.0035

−7.5%

0.0, 2.7, 0.74

 

All Corticalc

16

234

244

−0.30 (−0.01 to −0.58)

0.041

−4.2%

57.2, 35.2, 0.002

 

Excl. outliersd

14

193

209

−0.45 (−0.25 to −0.65)

0.00001

−6.9%

0.0, 12.2, 0.51

 

Basal gangliae

4

65

68

−0.17 (+0.17 to −0.51)

0.32

−3.4%

0.0, 2.0, 0.58

 

Hippocampusb

3

51

45

+0.14 (−0.27 to +0.54)

0.51

+1.5%

0.0, 2.0, 0.36

NAA

ACC

7

108

111

+0.12 (−0.41 to +0.66)

0.65

+0.4%

72.7 23.3 0.0007

 

PFCb

7

93

104

−0.07 (−0.45 to +0.32)

0.74

+0.1%

43.5, 10.6, 0.10

 

Occipital

3

33

37

−0.47 (+0.01 to −0.95)

0.055

−4.3%

0.0, 0.56, 0.76

 

White matter

3

54

42

−0.33 (+0.09 to −0.74)

0.12

−5.2%

0.0, 1.6, 0.45

 

All Corticalc

18

269

275

−0.11 (+0.15 to −0.37)

0.41

−1.7%

56.3, 39.3, 0.002

 

Excl. outliersd

16

232

238

−0.26 (−0.08 to −0.45)

0.005

−3.5%

0.0, 12.1, 0.67

 

Basal gangliae

5

84

87

−0.20 (+0.19 to −0.60)

0.31

−3.8%

38.9, 7.0, 0.13

 

Hippocampusb

4

65

52

+0.01 (−0.36 to +0.38)

0.96

−0.5%

0.0, 1.6, 0.65

tCr

ACC

4

58

60

+0.05 (−0.32 to +0.41)

0.81

 

0.0, 1.1, 0.77

 

PFC

4

46

57

−0.18 (+0.41 to −0.78)

0.54

 

54.6, 6.5, 0.09

 

All Cortical

9

118

135

−0.15 (+0.13 to −0.44)

0.30

 

20.2, 10.8, 0.22

m-Inositol

ACC

4

77

77

−0.18 (+0.14 to −0.50)

0.26

 

0.0, 1.0, 0.81

 

PFC

3

36

47

−0.15 (+0.38 to −0.68)

0.57

 

30.1, 2.9, 0.24

 

All Cortical

8

132

134

−0.11 (+0.13 to −0.37)

0.37

 

0.0, 5.6, 0.58

Glutamate

ACC

3

38

38

+0.16 (−0.91 to +1.23)

0.76

 

80.0, 10.7, 0.005

 

All Cortical

5

59

70

−0.22 (−0.69 to +0.25)

0.36

 

42.3, 6.9, 0.14

Glx

ACC

3

52

53

−0.06 (+0.48 to −0.60)

0.82

 

46.5, 3.7, 0.16

 

All Cortical

6

92

97

−0.11 (+0.23 to −0.45)

0.52

 

27.1, 6.6, 0.25

GABA

All Cortical

3

42

39

−0.26 (+0.53 to −1.04)

0.52

 

66.3, 6.1, 0.048

Lactate

All Cortical

3

33

37

+0.04 (+0.52 to −0.44)

0.88

 

2.1, 2.3, 0.31

  1. aWeighted mean percent difference between patients and controls. See Methods.
  2. bFor PFC and HC, right was studied more often than left, so right was included when both right and left were reported.
  3. cWhen more than one cortical region was reported, the region with the lowest mean COV was retained.
  4. dAfter exclusion of datasets with an effect size that fell outside the 95% confidence limits for this analysis.
  5. eFor basal ganglia, left was studied more often than right, and putamen more often than caudate. Left putamen was preferentially included when it was reported.
  6. K number of datasets, Pts patients, HC healthy controls, CI confidence interval, tCho total choline-containing compounds, NAA n-acetylaspartate, tCr creatine+phosphocreatine, Glx glutamate+glutamine, ACC anterior cingulate cortex, PFC prefrontal cortex.
  7. Rows with bolded values indicate statistically significant effects.
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