Short-chain carnitines in adolescent major depressive disorder: Associations and biomarker potential

A growing body of evidence suggests altered short-chain carnitine biology in mental health, notably significantly reduced serum levels of L-Acetyl-carnitine (LAC) in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). Building on these findings, our biomarker study aimed to investigate potential MDD-associated disruptions in short-chain carnitines within juvenile cohorts.

In a cross-sectional analysis with between-group comparison we contrasted a cohort of adolescents with major depressive disorder (n = 38) with healthy controls (n = 38) by assessing peripheral blood levels of free l-carnitine (FC), LAC as well as the LAC/FC ratio and studied associations with psychometrically assessed clinical characteristics. To validate our cohort allocation and thus to corroborate the MDD related specification of our carnitine associated findings by replicating existing evidence towards specific altered endocrine parameters in adolescent MDD, we furthermore obtained morning cortisol, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and the cortisol/ACTH ratio.

No significant inter-cohort differences were observed in FC or LAC-levels, but the LAC/FC ratio was significantly elevated in adolescents with depressive disorder (M(HC) = 0.39, SE = 0.02; M(MDD) = 0.47, SE = 0.02; Cohen's d = 0.80; p < 0.001). After controlling for confounders, in linear regression models, MDD cohort assignment emerged as a significant predictor of an elevated LAC/FC ratio (β = 0.432; p = 0.046; corr. R² = 0.108), as well as reduced FC levels (β = -0.225; p = 0.049; corr. R² = 0.120). Binominal regression analyses further identified the LAC/FC ratio (B = 7.432; p = 0.010; corr. R² = 0.381) as a predictive marker for MDD cohort assignment. Overall, the significant alteration in the LAC/FC ratio reinforces the overarching hypothesis of altered carnitine biology in both adolescent and adult individuals with MDD. Whether adolescent MDD represents a partially aberrant molecular pathophysiology compared to adults, or instead reflects an underdeveloped molecular phenotype differentiation, remains an open question for further research.