Background: Previous studies showed inconsistent results of the association between plasma adiponectin and depression. The aim of this study is to longitudinally investigate the association of adiponectin rs1501299 with depression in Chinese Han adolescents who experienced the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.
Method: Variants of adiponectin rs1501299 were identified by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. Depressive symptoms were assessed by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) among 746 high school students at 6, 12 and 18 months after the earthquake.
Results: The female T allele carriers of adiponectin rs1501299 had lower prevalence of depression (p=0.008) and BDI scores (p=0.024) than the female GG homozygotes at 18 months, but not at 6 or 12 months after the earthquake, which were significantly reduced (p=0.022 for the prevalence and p<0.001 for the scores) in the female T allele carriers at 18 months after the earthquake when compared with those at 12 months. In addition, the major predictors of depression for the GG homozygotes were gender and age at 6, 12 and 18 months after earthquake. On the other hand, the major predictor for the T allele carriers was gender at 6, 12 and 18 months after earthquake.
Limitations: There were some limitations in the present study. First, adiponectin expressions including serum adiponectin and mRNA in adipose tissues were not measured. Second, the effect of body mass index was not evaluated.
Conclusions: The adiponectin T allele is associated with reduced prevalence of depression and lower BDI scores of female adolescents in the later stage of rehabilitation of depression.
Keywords: Adiponectin; Adolescent; Depression; Earthquake; Genetic variation.
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