Leung Cherry Y, Weiss Sandra J
Department of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Biol Res Nurs. 2025 Jul;27(3):400-410. doi: 10.1177/10998004251318385. Epub 2025 Feb 4.
Inflammation has been linked to an increased risk of depression, but there is limited and conflicting research on the role of inflammatory markers in adolescent depression. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 and depression among a community-based sample of adolescents (13-19 years of age). Salivary samples were self-collected by adolescents for assay of cytokines. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to measure depressive symptoms and clinical depression, where a score ≥11 indicated the threshold for experiencing clinical depression. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to examine the relationships between cytokines and depression, adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, income, and body mass index. The mean age of the 83 participants was 15.86 years. Eight participants screened positive for depression; the mean depressive symptom score was 5.11. Higher levels of IL-6 (Coef = 1.33, < .001) and IL-8 (Coef = 0.69, .025) were associated with more frequent depressive symptoms while higher levels of TNF-α (OR = 2.50, .002), IL-1β (OR = 1.98, = .001), and IL-8 (OR = 2.44, = .008) were associated with greater odds of meeting criteria for clinical depression. Future research should focus on factors that induce higher cytokine levels and the mechanisms underlying their effects on depression. Cytokines assessed in this study may ultimately have implications as methods for depression screening or targets for biologic interventions to prevent and treat adolescent depression.
炎症与抑郁症风险增加有关，但关于炎症标志物在青少年抑郁症中的作用，研究有限且存在矛盾。本研究的目的是在一个以社区为基础的青少年样本（13 - 19岁）中，检验细胞因子肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）和白细胞介素-8（IL-8）与抑郁症之间的关联。青少年自行采集唾液样本用于细胞因子检测。采用患者健康问卷-9（PHQ-9）来测量抑郁症状和临床抑郁症，得分≥11表明达到临床抑郁症的阈值。使用多元线性和逻辑回归模型来检验细胞因子与抑郁症之间的关系，并对年龄、性别、种族、收入和体重指数进行了调整。83名参与者的平均年龄为15.86岁。8名参与者抑郁症筛查呈阳性；平均抑郁症状评分为5.11。较高水平的IL-6（系数 = 1.33，< .00l）和IL-8（系数 = 0.69，.025）与更频繁的抑郁症状相关，而较高水平的TNF-α（比值比 = 2.50，.002）、IL-1β（比值比 = 1.98， = .001）和IL-8（比值比 = 2.44， = .008）与符合临床抑郁症标准的更高几率相关。未来的研究应关注诱导细胞因子水平升高的因素及其影响抑郁症的潜在机制。本研究中评估的细胞因子最终可能作为抑郁症筛查方法或生物干预预防和治疗青少年抑郁症的靶点具有重要意义。
