Assessing and refining a metabolite-based distress score for use in different populations within three US cohorts

Psychological distress is associated with metabolic alterations that contribute to adverse cardiometabolic outcomes across diverse populations. We previously developed a metabolite-based distress score (MDS) in predominantly White women. Because men and Black individuals suffer high rates of cardiometabolic disease, we evaluated whether the MDS is similarly associated with depression in these populations, and derived a multi-ethnic MDS (MDS-ME) among Black individuals with replications in independent samples.

Data were from three U.S. cohorts, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), Women's Health Initiative (WHI), and Nurses' Health Study (NHS), evaluated in 4 stages. Stages 1-3 included 2,477 White and 1,625 Black MESA participants with depression status data and plasma metabolomics assessed at baseline. Stage 1: We calculated the MDS and examined its association with depression status. Stage 2: We conducted an agnostic analysis among a 70% random subset of Black participants to identify additional relevant metabolites. Stage 3: We derived an MDS-ME in Black participants. Stage 4: We evaluated the MDS-ME using independent samples from all three cohorts.

The previously validated 20-metabolite MDS showed stronger associations with prevalent depression in White (OR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.71, 2.19) versus Black (OR: 1.13, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.33) MESA participants. Associations were generally similar in men and women. The MDS-ME comprised 33 metabolites, and relative to the MDS was more strongly associated with depression in Black participants (OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.04, 2.03), with associations also evident in White participants (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.60, 2.04). The MDS-ME was similarly associated with depression in Black women in WHI and NHS.

Results suggest that incorporating metabolites identified in Black participants enhances the utility and generalizability of the MDS across more diverse populations.