Sex differences in erythrocyte fatty acid composition of first-diagnosed, drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorders

Lu Wang; Ting Liu; Jimin Guo; Tingyu Zhao; Hui Tang; Fang Dong; Chuanyue Wang; Jindong Chen; Mimi Tang

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1314151

Sex differences in erythrocyte fatty acid composition of first-diagnosed, drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorders

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Dec 18:14:1314151. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1314151. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Lu Wang^#^{1

2

3}, Ting Liu^#^{4

5}, Jimin Guo⁶, Tingyu Zhao^{4

5}, Hui Tang³, Fang Dong^{1

2}, Chuanyue Wang^{1

2}, Jindong Chen³, Mimi Tang^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders Center of Schizophrenia, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
³ National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
⁴ Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
⁵ National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
⁶ College of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Since depression, sex hormones, and fatty acid status are interrelated, it is important to understand their relationships. In this study, we aimed to investigate sex differences in erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition among first-diagnosed, drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorders. Methods: The study included 139 individuals with first-diagnosed, drug-naïve depression (male/female = 48/91) and 55 healthy controls (male/female = 24/31). The levels of erythrocyte membrane fatty acids were analyzed to compare the difference between males and females in both patients with depression and healthy controls, as well as to study their correlation with depressive symptoms. Results: In first-diagnosed, drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorders, sex disparities were observed in the levels of erythrocyte saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and n-6 PUFAs (such as C18:0, C20:4n6 and C22:4n6), where higher levels evident in females compared to in males. We found a noteworthy correlation between fatty acid levels and depressive symptoms, in which there is a significant association between female patients and depression but a weaker association between male patients and depression. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate higher levels of n-6 PUFAs and SFAs in female patients with depression. The relationship between fatty acid composition and depressive symptoms was more prominent in females than males. These findings highlight the significance of considering sex as a crucial and interconnected factor in future investigations and potential adjunctive treatment for mood disorders by targeting fatty acid metabolism.

Keywords: erythrocyte membrane fatty acids; major depression disorder; n-3 PUFAs; n-6 PUFAs; sex differences.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers 81803233 and 82301686), the Science Foundation of Xiangya Hospital for Young Scholar (Grant Number 2017Q13), the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (Grant Number 2018JJ3834), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021M693561).