This study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of depressive symptoms and major depressive disorder (MDD) with adiponectin and leptin in healthy middle-aged women (mean (SD) age, 45.6 (2.5) years).
Higher pre-treatment leptin was associated with better response to treatment regarding panic symptoms in patients with MDD, while higher IL-6 was associated with worse response regarding panic symptoms in PD patients.
To determine whether subgroups of patients with MDD stratified according to the A/W criterion had a different degree of genetic overlap with obesity-related traits (body mass index [BMI] and levels of C-reactive protein [CRP] and leptin).
Plasma leptin levels, psychopathology and biometrics were compared between participants meeting DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for MDD (n = 63) and healthy controls (n = 60).
Our study strongly supports the hypothesis that genetic variability at the leptin locus is involved in lithium augmentation-associated weight gain in major depressive disorder.
An increase in leptin and insulin levels was observed for both schizophrenia patients (Cohen's d (d): 0.26 and 0.65, respectively) and MDD patients (d: 0.29 and 0.12, respectively) compared to their respective controls.
Our results suggest that the elevated plasma leptin levels in the drug-naïve MDD group might be associated with the changes of the white matter integrity in the dorsomedial thalamus region.
Contribution of leptin to MDD has been discovered recently, although the mechanistic links between leptin and the depressive-like behaviors has not been revealed.
These potential pathways are illustrated with the specific example of the association of the human leptin (OB) gene with obesity and major depressive disorders in humans.
The ratio of pre-treatment pBDNF to leptin was significantly lower in patients with MDD and PD compared to healthy controls (p = 0.024), but was not associated with severity of depressive or anxiety symptoms.
As compared to control subjects, higher leptin was associated with the atypical MDD subtype both for remitted (n = 144, odds ratio = 1.53, 95% confidence interval = 1.16-2.03, p = .003) and current (n = 270, odds ratio = 1.90, 95% confidence interval = 1.51-2.93, p = 5.3e-8) cases.
These results highlight gender differences in determining the association between obesity and depression, and elevated leptin level is a potential mechanism linking MDD to obesity in depressed women.
These potential pathways are illustrated with the specific example of the association of the human leptin (OB) gene with obesity and major depressive disorders in humans.