Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Chronobiol Int. 2024 May;41(5):621-631. doi: 10.1080/07420528.2024.2337891. Epub 2024 Apr 3.
Most studies have shown a link between chronotypes and mental health and have identified evening chronotypes (E-types) as a potential risk for depressive symptoms. However, the mechanisms behind this association remain unknown. Abnormal expression of the gene was not only associated with circadian rhythm disturbance, but also closely related to mental illness. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association of chronotype with depressive symptoms, and further explore the moderating effects of the gene DNA methylation on chronotypes and depressive symptoms in Chinese university students. In a stratified cluster sampling design, chronotype and depressive symptoms were assessed in 1 042 university students from 2 universities in a two-year prospective survey from April 2019 to October 2020. The survey was conducted once every 6 months, corresponding to the time points in April 2019 (T0), October 2019 (T1), April 2020 (T2), and October 2020 (T3). At T0, the Morning and Evening Questionnaire 5 (MEQ-5) was adopted to assess chronotype. At T0-T3, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) was adopted to investigate depressive symptoms. Meanwhile, at T0, participants were subjected to a health check-up trip in the hospital, and blood samples were taken from the students to measure the gene DNA methylation levels. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the association of chronotypes with depressive symptoms. The depression/total depression group was coded as 1, while the remaining participants was defined as one group, and was coded as 0. The PROCESS plug-in of SPSS software was used to analyze the moderating effects of gene DNA methylation on the association of chronotype with depressive symptoms. After adjusting for covariates, the results indicated that T0 E-types were positively correlated with T0-T3 depression/total depression in female university students. Furthermore, the gene DNA methylation has negative moderating effects between T0 chronotype and T3 depressive symptoms and has a sex difference. This study can provide more favorable scientific value for the prevention and control of depression in university students.
大多数研究表明，时型与心理健康之间存在关联，并将夜间型（E 型）确定为抑郁症状的潜在风险因素。然而，这种关联的机制尚不清楚。基因的异常表达不仅与昼夜节律紊乱有关，而且与精神疾病密切相关。因此，本研究旨在探讨时型与抑郁症状的关系，并进一步探讨基因 DNA 甲基化对中国大学生时型和抑郁症状的调节作用。在一项分层聚类抽样设计中，在 2019 年 4 月至 2020 年 10 月为期两年的前瞻性调查中，对来自两所大学的 1042 名大学生进行了时型和抑郁症状评估。调查每 6 个月进行一次，对应于 2019 年 4 月（T0）、2019 年 10 月（T1）、2020 年 4 月（T2）和 2020 年 10 月（T3）的时间点。在 T0 时，采用 Morning and Evening Questionnaire 5（MEQ-5）评估时型。在 T0-T3 时，采用患者健康问卷 9（PHQ-9）调查抑郁症状。同时，在 T0 时，参与者进行了医院的健康检查旅行，并从学生身上采集了血液样本以测量基因 DNA 甲基化水平。采用二元逻辑回归分析时型与抑郁症状的关系。将抑郁/总抑郁组编码为 1，其余参与者定义为一组，编码为 0。采用 SPSS 软件的 PROCESS 插件分析基因 DNA 甲基化对时型与抑郁症状关系的调节作用。在调整协变量后，结果表明，女性大学生 T0 夜间型与 T0-T3 抑郁/总抑郁呈正相关。此外，基因 DNA 甲基化对 T0 时型与 T3 抑郁症状之间的关系具有负向调节作用，并且具有性别差异。本研究可为大学生抑郁的预防和控制提供更有利的科学价值。
