Ma YH, Wang XY, Wang WL, Zhang J, Liu XH, Li DX, Zhou ZH, Chen LM, Zhou HL. Aberrant topology of the default mode network is associated with phosphatidylcholine and triglyceride levels in major depressive disorder. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(2): 113513 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i2.113513]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Li-Min Chen, Chief Physician, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Mental Health Center of Jiangnan University, No. 156 Qianhu Road, Binhu District, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China. findition@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Feb 19, 2026 (publication date) through Feb 2, 2026
Times Cited of This Article
Times Cited (0)
Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Psychiatry
ISSN
2220-3206
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
Share the Article
Ma YH, Wang XY, Wang WL, Zhang J, Liu XH, Li DX, Zhou ZH, Chen LM, Zhou HL. Aberrant topology of the default mode network is associated with phosphatidylcholine and triglyceride levels in major depressive disorder. World J Psychiatry 2026; 16(2): 113513 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i2.113513]
Yu-Hang Ma, Xin-Yu Wang, Wen-Liang Wang, Jing Zhang, Xiao-Hong Liu, Du-Xing Li, Zhen-He Zhou, Li-Min Chen, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Mental Health Center of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
Hong-Liang Zhou, Department of Psychology, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Yu-Hang Ma and Xin-Yu Wang.
Co-corresponding authors: Li-Min Chen and Hong-Liang Zhou.
Author contributions: Ma YH analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Ma YH and Wang XY contributed equally to this study as co-first authors; Wang XY, Wang WL, and Zhang J collected the relevant data; Liu XH, Li DX, and Zhou ZH provided technological support; Zhou ZH provided financial support; Chen LM and Zhou HL designed the study and edited the manuscript, and they contributed equally to this manuscript as co-corresponding authors. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Wuxi Taihu Talent Project, No. WXTTP2021.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Mental Health Center of Jiangnan University (approval No. WXMHCIRB2025 LLky017).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Data used in this study can be available from the corresponding author at hongliangzh@jiangnan.edu.cn.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li-Min Chen, Chief Physician, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Mental Health Center of Jiangnan University, No. 156 Qianhu Road, Binhu District, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China. findition@163.com
Received: August 27, 2025 Revised: September 16, 2025 Accepted: November 3, 2025 Published online: February 19, 2026 Processing time: 156 Days and 4.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
The default mode network (DMN) is associated with lipid metabolism. Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) exhibit concurrent abnormal topological properties of the DMN and dysregulated lipid metabolism. However, there are no studies investigating the mechanisms underlying the associations between these two variables in patients with MDD.
AIM
To investigate the association between abnormal topological properties of the DMN and dysregulated lipid metabolism in patients with MDD.
METHODS
There were 147 participants, including 71 patients with MDD and 76 healthy controls. The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) was used to assess depression severity. Graph theoretical analysis was employed to compare group differences in the topological properties of the DMN across the following bilateral regions: the superior medial frontal gyrus, superior orbital frontal gyrus, posterior cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus (SMG), angular gyrus, precuneus, and middle temporal gyrus. Lipidomic techniques were employed to obtain lipid profiles, and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis was performed to compare group differences in lipid profiles. Partial correlation analysis was performed between the abnormal topological properties of the DMN, HAMD-17 scores, and differential lipids.
RESULTS
Abnormal topological properties were observed in the MDD group in the following DMN regions: The right superior medial frontal gyrus (SFGmed.R), right posterior cingulate gyrus, left SMG, right SMG, and left angular gyrus. The betweenness centrality, degree centrality, and efficiency of the SFGmed.R were positively correlated with HAMD-17 scores, whereas the shortest path was negatively correlated with HAMD-17 scores. The betweenness centrality of the left SMG was positively correlated with HAMD-17 scores. The betweenness centrality of the SFGmed.R was positively correlated with phosphatidylcholine O-34:3 and triglyceride O-8:0_18:3_18:5 levels.
CONCLUSION
SFGmed.R is a crucial node within the DMN in MDD patients, and the betweenness centrality of the SFGmed.R is associated with phosphatidylcholine and triglyceride levels. These results may offer novel clues for exploring the pathophysiology and biomarker identification of MDD.
Core Tip: The default mode network (DMN) is associated with lipid metabolism. Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) exhibit abnormalities in the topological properties of the DMN and dysregulation in lipid metabolism. Our study investigated the association between the abnormal topological properties of the DMN and dysregulated lipid metabolism in MDD, revealing that the betweenness centrality of the right superior medial frontal gyrus is associated with phosphatidylcholine and triglyceride. The results may offer novel clues for exploring MDD pathophysiology and biomarker identification.
