School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian district, Beijing100871 China.
School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian district, Beijing100871 China.
J Affect Disord. 2018 Aug 15;236:157-163. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.089. Epub 2018 Apr 21.
Chronic exposure to job-related stress can lead to depression and BDNF polymorphism may play an important role in this process. The role of the stress × BDNF Val66Met interaction in depression has been studied widely using childhood stress, but few studies have utilized chronic stress in adulthood as a moderator. This study was to examine the chronic stress × BDNF Val66Met interaction in job-related depression in the healthcare workers in a Chinese Han population, which has not been reported yet.
Using a cross-sectional design, 243 doctors and nurses were recruited from a general hospital in Beijing, and were assessed for depression with Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the stress using the House and Rizzo's Work Stress Scale. The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism was genotyped.
There was a significant positive association between job stress and depressive scores (p < 0.001). No significant main effect of the BDNF Val66Met genotype on depressive symptoms was observed (p > 0.05). A statistically significant interaction between BDNF Val66Met and job stress on depressive symptoms was found (p < 0.05); individuals with Val/Val genotype showed a higher SDS score than Met allele carriers only in the low-stress group, without significant differences in SDS score between the BDNF Val66Met subgroups in medium- or high-stress group.
Limitations include cross-sectional study design, the small sample size only in healthcare workers and only one polymorphism in BDNF gene was analyzed.
Our results suggest a close relationship between job-related stress and depression, and the interaction of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and chronic stress in adulthood may impact the depressive symptoms.
慢性职业压力暴露可导致抑郁，BDNF 多态性可能在此过程中发挥重要作用。使用儿童期应激，广泛研究了应激×BDNF Val66Met 相互作用在抑郁症中的作用，但很少有研究将成年期慢性应激作为调节因素。本研究旨在探讨汉族医护人员职业相关抑郁症中慢性应激×BDNF Val66Met 相互作用，目前尚未有报道。
采用横断面设计，从北京某综合医院招募 243 名医生和护士，使用自评抑郁量表（SDS）评估抑郁情况，使用豪斯和里佐工作应激量表评估应激情况。对 BDNF Val66Met 多态性进行基因分型。
工作压力与抑郁评分呈显著正相关（p<0.001）。BDNF Val66Met 基因型对抑郁症状无显著主效应（p>0.05）。BDNF Val66Met 与工作压力对抑郁症状存在显著交互作用（p<0.05）；仅在低压力组中，Val/Val 基因型个体的 SDS 评分高于 Met 等位基因携带者，而在中、高压力组中，BDNF Val66Met 亚组的 SDS 评分无显著差异。
局限性包括横断面研究设计、仅在医护人员中样本量小，以及仅分析了 BDNF 基因的一个多态性。
我们的结果表明，职业相关应激与抑郁密切相关，BDNF Val66Met 多态性与成年期慢性应激的相互作用可能影响抑郁症状。
