Med-X Research Institute and School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (Ministry of Education), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030, China.
Biomolecules. 2021 Mar 10;11(3):409. doi: 10.3390/biom11030409.
Testosterone's role in female depression is not well understood, with studies reporting conflicting results. Here, we use meta-analytical and Mendelian randomization techniques to determine whether serum testosterone levels differ between depressed and healthy women and whether such a relationship is casual. Our meta-analysis shows a significant association between absolute serum testosterone levels and female depression, which remains true for the premenopausal group while achieving borderline significance in the postmenopausal group. The results from our Mendelian randomization analysis failed to show any causal relationship between testosterone and depression. Our results show that women with depression do indeed display significantly different serum levels of testosterone. However, the directions of the effect of this relationship are conflicting and may be due to menopausal status. Since our Mendelian randomization analysis was insignificant, the difference in testosterone levels between healthy and depressed women is most likely a manifestation of the disease itself. Further studies could be carried out to leverage this newfound insight into better diagnostic capabilities culminating in early intervention in female depression.
睾酮在女性抑郁症中的作用尚未被充分理解，研究结果存在矛盾。在这里，我们使用荟萃分析和孟德尔随机化技术来确定抑郁女性与健康女性之间的血清睾酮水平是否存在差异，以及这种关系是否具有因果关系。我们的荟萃分析表明，血清睾酮水平与女性抑郁症之间存在显著关联，这种关联在绝经前妇女中仍然成立，而在绝经后妇女中则达到边缘显著水平。我们的孟德尔随机化分析结果未能显示睾酮与抑郁症之间存在任何因果关系。我们的结果表明，患有抑郁症的女性确实表现出明显不同的血清睾酮水平。然而，这种关系的影响方向相互矛盾，可能与绝经状态有关。由于我们的孟德尔随机化分析没有显著性，因此健康女性和抑郁女性之间的睾酮水平差异很可能是疾病本身的表现。可以开展进一步的研究，利用这一新发现来提高诊断能力，最终实现对女性抑郁症的早期干预。
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