Proinflammatory phenotype in major depressive disorder with adulthood adversity: In line with social signal transduction theory of depression

Abstract

Background: The social signal transduction theory of depression proposes that life stress can be transformed into inflammatory signals, and ultimately lead to the development of major depressive disorder (MDD). The hypotheses of this study were: (1) The pro-inflammatory effect of life stress was only seen in patients with MDD, but not in healthy controls (HCs); (2) Inflammation can mediate the relationship between life stress and depressive symptoms.

Methods: This study included 170 MDD patients and 196 HCs, and 13 immune-inflammatory biomarkers closely related to MDD were measured, principal component analysis (PCA) was adopted to extract the inflammatory index. Life stress was assessed by Life Event Scale (LES), a total score of >32 points on the LES was considered as adulthood adversity (AA). Path analyses were used to explore the relationship among adulthood stress, inflammatory index, and severity of depression.

Results: Among MDD patients, α2M, CXCL-1, IL-1β, and TLR-1 levels were higher in patients with AA than non-AA group (all FDR-adjusted P values <0.05), meanwhile, the levels of CCL-2 and IL-18 were lower. Path analyses suggested that pro- and anti-inflammatory index could mediate the association between AA and severity of depression in MDD patients.

Conclusion: This study found that inflammatory signals can mediate the relationship between adulthood adversity and depression, however, the causal relationship need to be further confirmed. These findings shed light on further understanding the theory of social signal transduction in MDD and provide clues for stress management and controlling inflammation strategies in depression.

Clinical trials: NCT02023567.

Keywords: Immune; Inflammation; Major depressive disorder; Social signal transduction theory; Stress.