Department of Neurology, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, 518036, China.
BMC Psychiatry. 2024 Jul 24;24(1):527. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05964-0.
Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) has been identified as a biomarker for neurologic diseases. However, sNfL remains unknown to be responsible for depression.
The aim of this research was to explore the relationship between sNfL levels and depression in US adults.
In this cross-sectional survey of the general population, we investigated representative data involving 10,175 participants from the 2013-2014 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Depression was diagnosed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The effect of related factors on depression was analyzed by conducting a univariate analysis. Stratified analysis was utilized to detect the stability and sensitivity of the relationship. After adjusting for race, education, marital status, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), sleep duration, income, and a history of hypertension, sedentary behavior and stroke, multivariable linear regression was performed to demonstrate the correlation between sNfL and depression.
A total of 1301 individuals between the ages of 20 and 75 were involved in this investigation, of which 108 (8.3%) were diagnosed with depression. A significant positive correlation between sNfL and depression among adults in the US was observed by conducting univariable analyses. After adjusting for confounding factors, the multivariate analyses indicated that elevated sNfL levels might play a pivotal role in the development of depression (odds ratio (OR) = 3.0; 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.5, 6.1), P = 0.002).
These results indicated that sNfL is closely linked to depression in a nationally representative individual. However, further studies are needed to confirm the biological mechanism as well as the clinical implications of sNfL and depression.
血清神经丝轻链（sNfL）已被确定为神经疾病的生物标志物。然而，sNfL 与抑郁症之间的关系尚不清楚。
本研究旨在探讨美国成年人 sNfL 水平与抑郁症之间的关系。
在这项针对一般人群的横断面调查中，我们调查了来自 2013-2014 年全国健康和营养检查调查（NHANES）的 10175 名代表性参与者的数据。使用患者健康问卷-9（PHQ-9）诊断抑郁症。通过单因素分析分析相关因素对抑郁症的影响。进行分层分析以检测关系的稳定性和敏感性。在调整种族、教育程度、婚姻状况、吸烟状况、体重指数（BMI）、睡眠时间、收入以及高血压、久坐行为和中风病史后，进行多变量线性回归以显示 sNfL 与抑郁症之间的相关性。
共有 1301 名年龄在 20 至 75 岁之间的个体参与了这项研究，其中 108 人（8.3%）被诊断患有抑郁症。通过单因素分析发现，美国成年人的 sNfL 与抑郁症之间存在显著的正相关关系。在调整混杂因素后，多变量分析表明，升高的 sNfL 水平可能在抑郁症的发生中起关键作用（比值比（OR）=3.0；95%置信区间（CI）：（1.5, 6.1），P=0.002）。
这些结果表明，sNfL 与具有代表性的个体中的抑郁症密切相关。然而，需要进一步的研究来确认 sNfL 与抑郁症之间的生物学机制以及临床意义。
