Department of Psychiatry, Taipei Medical University Hospital, 252 Wu-Hsing St., Taipei, 110, Taiwan.
Psychiatric Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, 252 Wu-Hsing St, Taipei, 110, Taiwan.
Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 21;7(1):8330. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-08568-9.
Although evidence suggests that homocysteine levels are elevated in severe mental illness in children, findings regarding homocysteine levels in youth with anxiety and depression are scarce. Therefore, this study examined the association of homocysteine levels with anxiety and depression in a community sample of students aged 6-13 years. In total, 649 students were selected from the first, fourth, and seventh grades of schools in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2010. These students completed a hospital-based health examination, which included physical examination, blood sample collection, and questionnaire administration. The data were analysed through multiple linear regression. Among the seventh-grade boys, both depression (adjusted β = 0.044, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.004-0.084) and anxiety (adjusted β = 0.052, 95% CI = 0.013-0.091) were independently associated with increased homocysteine levels. In further dichotomisation, compared with students with low anxiety levels, those with moderate to high anxiety levels were significantly positively associated with elevated serum homocysteine levels (adjusted β = 0.091, 95% CI = 0.003-0.180). Our results suggest that increased depression and anxiety may be positively associated with higher serum homocysteine levels in older boys. Our results provide essential data on the biological aspects underlying anxiety and depression in the studied population.
尽管有证据表明儿童严重精神疾病患者的同型半胱氨酸水平升高，但关于焦虑和抑郁青少年同型半胱氨酸水平的研究结果却很少。因此，本研究在一个来自台湾台北的 6-13 岁学生社区样本中，检验了同型半胱氨酸水平与焦虑和抑郁之间的关联。2010 年，共从台北市的学校一年级、四年级和七年级中选取了 649 名学生。这些学生完成了一项基于医院的健康检查，其中包括体检、血样采集和问卷调查。数据分析采用多元线性回归。在七年级男生中，抑郁（调整后的β=0.044，95%置信区间（CI）=0.004-0.084）和焦虑（调整后的β=0.052，95%CI=0.013-0.091）均与同型半胱氨酸水平升高独立相关。在进一步的二分法中，与低焦虑水平的学生相比，中高度焦虑水平的学生与升高的血清同型半胱氨酸水平显著正相关（调整后的β=0.091，95%CI=0.003-0.180）。我们的研究结果表明，抑郁和焦虑程度增加可能与年龄较大的男孩血清同型半胱氨酸水平升高呈正相关。我们的研究结果提供了关于所研究人群中焦虑和抑郁生物学基础的重要数据。
