Edmondson-Stait Amelia J, Davyson Ella, Shen Xueyi, Adams Mark James, Khandaker Golam M, Miron Veronique E, McIntosh Andrew M, Lawrie Stephen M, Kwong Alex S F, Whalley Heather C
Translational Neuroscience PhD Programme, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Eur Psychiatry. 2025 Jan 27;68(1):e27. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2025.7.
Peripheral inflammatory markers, including serum interleukin 6 (IL-6), are associated with depression, but less is known about how these markers associate with depression at different stages of the life course.
We examined the associations between serum IL-6 levels at baseline and subsequent depression symptom trajectories in two longitudinal cohorts: ALSPAC (age 10-28 years; = 4,835) and UK Biobank (39-86 years; = 39,613) using multilevel growth curve modeling. Models were adjusted for sex, BMI, and socioeconomic factors. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire in ALSPAC (max time points = 11) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 in UK Biobank (max time points = 8).
Higher baseline IL-6 was associated with worse depression symptom trajectories in both cohorts (largest effect size: 0.046 [ALSPAC, age 16 years]). These associations were stronger in the younger ALSPAC cohort, where additionally higher IL-6 levels at age 9 years was associated with worse depression symptoms trajectories in females compared to males. Weaker sex differences were observed in the older cohort, UK Biobank. However, statistically significant associations (pFDR <0.05) were of smaller effect sizes, typical of large cohort studies.
These findings suggest that systemic inflammation may influence the severity and course of depressive symptoms across the life course, which is apparent regardless of age and differences in measures and number of time points between these large, population-based cohorts.
外周炎症标志物，包括血清白细胞介素6（IL-6），与抑郁症有关，但对于这些标志物在生命历程的不同阶段如何与抑郁症相关联，人们了解较少。
我们在两个纵向队列中研究了基线时血清IL-6水平与随后抑郁症症状轨迹之间的关联：阿冯纵向父母与儿童发育研究（ALSPAC，年龄10 - 28岁；n = 4835）和英国生物银行（39 - 86岁；n = 39613），使用多水平生长曲线模型。模型对性别、体重指数和社会经济因素进行了调整。在ALSPAC中使用简短情绪与情感问卷（最大时间点 = 11）测量抑郁症状，在英国生物银行中使用患者健康问卷 - 2（最大时间点 = 8）测量。
在两个队列中，较高的基线IL-6都与更差的抑郁症症状轨迹相关（最大效应量：0.046 [ALSPAC，16岁]）。这些关联在较年轻的ALSPAC队列中更强，在该队列中，9岁时较高的IL-6水平与女性相比男性更差的抑郁症症状轨迹相关。在较年长的队列英国生物银行中观察到的性别差异较小。然而，具有统计学意义的关联（pFDR <0.05）效应量较小，这是大型队列研究的典型情况。
这些发现表明，全身炎症可能会影响整个生命历程中抑郁症状的严重程度和病程，无论年龄以及这些大型人群队列之间测量方法和时间点数量的差异如何，这种影响都是明显的。
