[Association between inflammatory markers and the change of depressive symptoms in college students]

To analyze the associations between levels of inflammatory markers and the change of depressive symptoms in college students.

From April to May 2019, 1179 freshmen were selected by cluster random sampling in two universities in Hefei, Anhui Province and Shangrao, Jiangxi Province for baseline survey. General demographic information of college students was collected through questionnaire survey, and the depressive symptoms of college students in the past week were evaluated by the depression subscale in the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Two follow-up surveys were conducted six months and one year later, respectively. Blood samples were collected at baseline to measure levels of five inflammatory markers: interleukin-6(IL-6), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), hypersensitive C-reactive protein(hs-CRP) and interleukin-10(IL-10). Multiple logistic regression model was used to analyze the association between five inflammatory markers and the change of depressive symptoms.

Among the subjects included in the study, 53.9% were from rural areas, 67.5% were female, 6.9% were smokers and 21.9% were drinkers. The detection rate of depressive symptoms at baseline was 21.1%. After 1 year follow-up, the rate of new depressive symptoms was 8.5%. Higher levels of IL-6(OR=2.36, 95% CI 1.10-5.04) and IL-1β(OR=2.93, 95% CI 1.36-6.32) at baseline were significantly positively correlated with new depressive symptoms in college students, and lower levels of IL-10 were significantly positively correlated with new depressive symptoms in college students(OR=3.92, 95% CI 1.73-8.86).

High levels of IL-6, IL-1β and low levels of IL-10 at baseline were positively associated with new depressive symptoms in college students.