Association between cytomegalovirus infection, reduced gray matter volume, and resting-state functional hypoconnectivity in major depressive disorder: a replication and extension

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a neurotropic herpes virus known to cause neuropathology in patients with impaired immunity. Previously, we reported a reduction in the gray matter volume (GMV) of several brain regions in two independent samples of participants who were seropositive for HCMV (HCMV+) compared to matched participants who were seronegative for HCMV (HCMV−). In addition to an independent replication of the GMV findings, this study aimed to examine whether HCMV+ was associated with differences in resting-state functional connectivity (rsfMRI-FC). After balancing on 11 clinical/demographic variables using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), GMV and rsfMRI-FC were obtained from 99 participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) who were classified into 42 HCMV+ and 57 HCMV− individuals. Relative to the HCMV− group, the HCMV+ group showed a significant reduction of GMV in nine cortical regions. Volume reduction in the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (standardized beta coefficient (SBC) = −0.32, [95%CI, −0.62 to −0.02]) and the left pars orbitalis (SBC = −0.34, [95%CI, −0.63 to −0.05]) in the HCMV+ group was also observed in the previous study. Regardless of the parcellation method or analytical approach, relative to the HCMV− group, the HCMV+ group showed hypoconnectivity between the hubs of the sensorimotor network (bilateral postcentral gyrus) and the hubs of the salience network (bilateral insula) with effect sizes ranging from SBC = −0.57 to −0.99. These findings support the hypothesis that a positive HCMV serostatus is associated with altered connectivity of regions that are important for stress and affective processing and further supports a possible etiological role of HCMV in depression.