Mohyuddin Hira, Georgiou Polymnia, Wadhawan Abhishek, Daue Melanie L, Brenner Lisa A, Gragnoli Claudia, Saunders Erika F H, Fuchs Dietmar, Lowry Christopher A, Postolache Teodor T
Mood and Anxiety Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Mood and Anxiety Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; and Saint Elizabeths' Hospital, Psychiatry Residency Training Program, Washington, DC, USA.
Pteridines. 2017;28(3-4):163-176. doi: 10.1515/pterid-2017-0020. Epub 2017 Dec 2.
Seasonal changes in non-human animals and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in humans are associated with immune activation in winter relative to summer. We intended to measure seasonal variation in neopterin, a marker of cellular immunity, and its interactions with gender and seasonality of mood. We studied 320 Amish from Lancaster, PA, USA (men = 128; 40%) with an average age [Standard deviation (SD)] of 56.7 (13.9) years. Blood neopterin level was measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Seasonality was measured with Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ). Statistical analysis included analysis of covariance (ANCOVAs) and multivariate linear regression. We also investigated interactions of seasonal differences in neopterin with gender, seasonality scores and estimation of SAD diagnosis. We found a significantly higher neopterin level in winter than in summer (p = 0.006). There were no significant gender or seasonality interactions. Our study confirmed the hypothesized higher neopterin level in winter. A cross sectional design was our major limitation. If this finding will be replicated by longitudinal studies in multiple groups, neopterin could be used to monitor immune status across seasons in demographically diverse samples, even if heterogeneous in gender distribution, and degree of seasonality of mood.
非人类动物的季节性变化以及人类的季节性情感障碍（SAD）与冬季相对于夏季的免疫激活有关。我们旨在测量细胞免疫标志物新蝶呤的季节性变化及其与性别和情绪季节性的相互作用。我们研究了来自美国宾夕法尼亚州兰开斯特的320名阿米什人（男性 = 128人；占40%），平均年龄[标准差（SD）]为56.7（13.9）岁。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法测量血液新蝶呤水平。使用季节性模式评估问卷（SPAQ）测量季节性。统计分析包括协方差分析（ANCOVA）和多元线性回归。我们还研究了新蝶呤季节性差异与性别、季节性得分以及SAD诊断估计值之间的相互作用。我们发现冬季新蝶呤水平显著高于夏季（p = 0.006）。不存在显著的性别或季节性相互作用。我们的研究证实了冬季新蝶呤水平较高的假设。横断面设计是我们的主要局限性。如果这一发现能在多组纵向研究中得到重复，那么新蝶呤可用于监测不同人口统计学样本（即使性别分布不均且情绪季节性程度不同）的跨季节免疫状态。
