An Association Between the Inflammatory Biomarker GlycA and Depressive Symptom Severity

The underlying mechanisms of depression remain unclear; however, current literature suggests a relationship between inflammation and depression. The association between the inflammatory biomarker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and depression has been previously investigated, but the relationship between GlycA, a novel spectroscopic inflammatory biomarker, and depression does not appear to have been examined.

Data were obtained from The Dallas Heart Study (DHS, conducted between 2000 and 2002), which consisted of a large community-based sample of Dallas County residents (N = 3,033). Depressive symptom severity was assessed with the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report (QIDS-SR). It was hypothesized that the serum GlycA level would be a statistically significant predictor of QIDS-SR scores after control for demographic covariates. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between GlycA level and QIDS-SR scores. The role of hs-CRP in predicting QIDS-SR scores was also explored.

GlycA level was a statistically significant positive predictor of QIDS-SR score (β = .053, P = .038) with control for sex, age, antidepressant use, ethnicity, smoking status, drinking status, body mass index, and years of education. In a subset of adults with moderate-to-severe depression, GlycA level was not associated with QIDS-SR scores. Additionally, hs-CRP level was not a statistically significant predictor of QIDS-SR scores.

This study found a positive association between the inflammatory biomarker GlycA, but not hs-CRP, and depressive symptom severity in a large multiethnic and multiracial community-based sample. Thus, these results provide the first indication that GlycA may be a potentially useful novel biomarker of depression.