Xiang Jingyue, Qin Yiqun, Jiang Ruhong, Wang Xiaolan, Zhou Yang, Liu Jia, Kuang Li
Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Psychiatric Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2025 Jun 10;16:1584320. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1584320. eCollection 2025.
Adolescent depression is a global health challenge with increasing rates and long-term impacts on development. Current diagnostics lack objective biomarkers, relying on subjective assessments. Neuroinflammation, particularly High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a systemic inflammation mediator, is implicated in adult depression but not well-studied in adolescents. Childhood trauma, a risk factor for neuroinflammatory dysregulation, has been linked to increased inflammatory markers but not specifically to HMGB1. This study explores serum HMGB1 as a diagnostic biomarker for adolescent depression and its role in exacerbating symptoms through childhood trauma.
160 participants, including 80 depressive adolescents and 80 healthy controls, were enrolled. The depressive symptoms of depressive adolescents were evaluated with clinical scale. Serum HMGB1 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, and mediation effect analysis were utilized to examine the relationship between serum HMGB1 levels and depressive symptoms severity.
Compared with the control group, serum HMGB1 levels (t = -18.48, 0.001) was increased in depressive adolescents. Correlation analysis showed that serum HMGB1 levels in depressive adolescents were positively correlated with 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) scores and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) scores. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that serum HMGB1 levels can independently predict HAMD-17 scores for depressive adolescents. HMGB1 demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.984) and significantly mediated depressive symptoms through childhood trauma (indirect effect = 0.0028, 95% CI: 0.0008-0.0058).
Serum HMGB1 levels are potential markers of depression, and childhood trauma partially mediates the relationship between HMGB1 and depressive symptoms severity.
青少年抑郁症是一项全球性的健康挑战，其发病率不断上升，且对发育具有长期影响。目前的诊断方法缺乏客观的生物标志物，主要依赖主观评估。神经炎症，尤其是作为全身炎症介质的高迁移率族蛋白B1（HMGB1），与成人抑郁症有关，但在青少年中尚未得到充分研究。童年创伤是神经炎症调节异常的一个危险因素，与炎症标志物的增加有关，但与HMGB1并无特异性关联。本研究探讨血清HMGB1作为青少年抑郁症诊断生物标志物的作用，以及其在童年创伤加剧症状方面所起的作用。
招募了160名参与者，其中包括80名抑郁青少年和80名健康对照者。使用临床量表评估抑郁青少年的抑郁症状。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法测量血清HMGB1水平。利用相关性分析、多元线性回归和中介效应分析来检验血清HMGB1水平与抑郁症状严重程度之间的关系。
与对照组相比，抑郁青少年的血清HMGB1水平升高（t = -18.48，P = 0.001）。相关性分析表明，抑郁青少年的血清HMGB1水平与17项汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD - 17）得分和儿童创伤问卷（CTQ）得分呈正相关。多元线性回归分析表明，血清HMGB1水平能够独立预测抑郁青少年的HAMD - 17得分。HMGB1显示出较高的诊断准确性（AUC = 0.984），并通过童年创伤显著介导了抑郁症状（间接效应 = 0.0028，95% CI：0.0008 - 0.0058）。
血清HMGB1水平是抑郁症的潜在标志物，童年创伤部分介导了HMGB1与抑郁症状严重程度之间的关系。
