Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, No.81 Meishan Road, Hefei, Anhui 230032, China.
Center for Precision Environmental Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Section of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Neuroscience. 2024 Sep 13;555:145-155. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.07.027. Epub 2024 Jul 25.
Previous research has shown that patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) develop immune dysfunction. However, the exact alterations of cluster of differentiation (CD)4 T helper (Th) lymphocytes in MDD remains unclear. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the specific changes in CD4 Th cells. A comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases was conducted to identify studies investigating CD4 Th, Th1, Th2, Th17, and T regulatory (Treg) cell counts in the peripheral blood of MDD patients and healthy controls (HCs), covering the period up to June 22, 2024. Our findings revealed that patients with MDD might exhibit higher CD4 Th cells (SMD=0.26, 95 %CI, 0.02 to 0.50), CD4/CD8 cell ratios (SMD=0.51, 95 %CI, 0.14 to 0.89), Th1/Th2 cell ratios (SMD=0.15, 95 %CI, 0.01 to 0.30) and lower Th1 (SMD=-0.17, 95 %CI, -0.30 to -0.03), Th2 (SMD=-0.25, 95 %CI, -0.40 to -0.11), and Treg cells (SMD=-0.69, 95 %CI, -1.27 to -0.11). However, no significant difference was observed in terms of Th17 cells and Th17/Treg cell ratios between MDD patients and the HCs. Heterogeneity was large (I:18.1-95.2 %), and possible sources of heterogeneity were explored (e.g., age, depression scale, country, and antidepressant use). Our findings indicate that peripheral CD4 T cells in depressed patients exhibit features of adaptive immune dysfunction, as evidenced by increased CD4 Th cells and CD4/CD8 and decreased Treg cells. These findings offer insights into the underlying mechanism of MDD.
先前的研究表明，患有重度抑郁症（MDD）的患者会出现免疫功能障碍。然而，MDD 患者中 CD4 辅助性 T 淋巴细胞（Th）的确切变化仍不清楚。本荟萃分析旨在研究 CD4 Th 细胞的具体变化。通过对 PubMed、EMBASE、Web of Science 和 PsycINFO 数据库进行全面检索，以确定研究 MDD 患者和健康对照（HC）外周血中 CD4 Th、Th1、Th2、Th17 和 T 调节（Treg）细胞计数的研究，时间截止到 2024 年 6 月 22 日。我们的研究结果表明，MDD 患者可能表现出更高的 CD4 Th 细胞（SMD=0.26，95%CI，0.02 至 0.50）、CD4/CD8 细胞比值（SMD=0.51，95%CI，0.14 至 0.89）、Th1/Th2 细胞比值（SMD=0.15，95%CI，0.01 至 0.30），以及更低的 Th1（SMD=-0.17，95%CI，-0.30 至 -0.03）、Th2（SMD=-0.25，95%CI，-0.40 至 -0.11）和 Treg 细胞（SMD=-0.69，95%CI，-1.27 至 -0.11）。然而，MDD 患者和 HCs 之间的 Th17 细胞和 Th17/Treg 细胞比值没有显著差异。异质性较大（I：18.1-95.2%），并探讨了异质性的可能来源（例如年龄、抑郁量表、国家和抗抑郁药使用）。我们的研究结果表明，抑郁患者外周血 CD4 T 细胞表现出适应性免疫功能障碍的特征，表现为 CD4 Th 细胞增加、CD4/CD8 减少和 Treg 细胞减少。这些发现为 MDD 的发病机制提供了新的见解。
