Depression as a symptom of cerebrovascular diseases: A review.

Abstract Depression can be prodromal symptom of brain diseases, but this association remains poorly studied with regards to cerebrovascular diseases. The aim of this review was to analyze the relationship between cerebrovascular diseases and depression. The objectives of the current review were: 1 – to assess the relationship between structural changes in brain and depression; 2 – to evaluate the connection between cognitive performance and cerebrovascular impairment; 3 – to assess the relationship between biological correlates of brain diseases and depression. A search of PubMed database was conducted focusing on papers published until 4th March, 2021. The following terms were used: brain diseases and depression/pathology. A depressive disorder might have relationship with structural or biological changes in the brain. However, this does not give the precise conclusion that depression definitely appears while person has cerebrovascular disease. Nevertheless, people with cerebrovascular diseases were observed to have high depression scales scores, while depression and cerebrovascular diseases had inflammation, cognitive change, or dopamine and serotonin changes in common. This is an overall limit concerning the definition of depression and cerebrovascular diseases. So, in this review we observed all the possible connections between depression and brain diseases. Depression seems to be associated with cerebrovascular changes in people. They might have structural changes in hippocampus, white matter, cortex and other parts, as well as inflammatory processes, neuromediators changes, and cognitive decline. Thus, it is essential to evaluate depressive disorders in people with brain diseases as precisely as possible.