Comparison of Peripheral Biomarkers and Reduction of Stress Response in Patients With Major Depressive Disorders vs. Panic Disorder

Mi Jin Park; Eun Hye Jang; Ah Young Kim; Hyewon Kim; Hyun Soo Kim; Sangwon Byun; Han Young Yu; Hong Jin Jeon

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.842963

Comparison of Peripheral Biomarkers and Reduction of Stress Response in Patients With Major Depressive Disorders vs. Panic Disorder

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Mar 31:13:842963. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.842963. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mi Jin Park¹, Eun Hye Jang², Ah Young Kim², Hyewon Kim³, Hyun Soo Kim¹, Sangwon Byun⁴, Han Young Yu², Hong Jin Jeon^{1

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Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
² Bio-Medical Information Technology Convergence Research Division, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon, South Korea.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Electronics Engineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, South Korea.
⁵ Korean Psychological Autopsy Center, Seoul, South Korea.
⁶ Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Department of Medical Device Management and Research, and Department of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea.

Abstract

Alteration in stress response seems to affect the development of psychiatric disorders. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether baseline peripheral biomarkers could predict the reduction of stress response among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and panic disorder (PD). Patients with MDD (n = 41) and PD (n = 52) and healthy controls (HC, n = 59) were selected and regularly followed up with five visits for 12 weeks. The severity of stress at every visit was assessed using the Stress Response Inventory (SRI), and peripheral biomarkers were measured by blood tests at baseline and 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, C-reactive protein (CRP), adiponectin, and leptin levels were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Reduction of stress response was defined as the difference in SRI score between baseline and 12 weeks divided by the baseline score. SRI scores were significantly (p < 0.0001) higher in patients with MDD and PD than in HC at every visit after adjusting for variables. In multivariable linear regression, adiponectin levels at baseline were significantly associated with reduction of stress response in patients with PD. When adiponectin increased 1 mg/l, stress response decreased 0.781 points (β = -0.781, S.E. = 0.220, p = 0.001). Among the subscales of SRI, somatization had a moderate negative correlation with adiponectin levels (r = -0.469). There was no significant association between baseline peripheral biomarkers and reduction of stress response in patients with MDD. Our study showed an inverse association between baseline adiponectin levels and stress response changes in patients with PD, but not in patients with MDD. Thus, differentiated approaches for assessing and treating stress responses of patients with PD and MDD might be helpful. Larger and longitudinal studies are necessary to establish the role and mechanism of action of adiponectin in regulating stress responses in PD.

Keywords: adiponectin; biomarkers; major depressive disorder; panic disorder; stress response.