Insulin-like growth factor-1: a possible marker for emotional and cognitive disturbances, and treatment effectiveness in major depressive disorder

Abstract Background Hormones of the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG), hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA), and hypothalamic–pituitary–somatotropic (HPS) axes are potentially involved in major depressive disorder (MDD), but these hormones have not been simultaneously investigated in male patients with MDD. We investigated the association between male MDD symptoms and estradiol, testosterone, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1). Methods Serum estradiol, testosterone, cortisol, DHEAS, and IGF1 levels were measured in 54 male patients with MDD and 37 male controls and were compared with clinical factors. We investigated the associations between hormone levels and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) scores. The correlations among hormones were also investigated. Results Patients had significantly lower estradiol levels than controls (22.4 ± 8.4 pg/mL vs. 26.1 ± 8.5 pg/mL, P = 0.040). Serum estradiol levels were negatively correlated with HAM-D scores (P = 0.000094) and positively correlated with Global Assessment of Functioning scores (P = 0.000299). IGF1 levels and the cortisol:DHEAS ratio were higher in patients than in controls (IGF1: 171.5 ± 61.8 ng/mL vs. 144.1 ± 39.2 ng/mL, P = 0.011; cortisol:DHEAS ratio: 0.07 ± 0.05 vs. 0.04 ± 0.02, P = 0.001). DHEAS levels were lower in patients than in controls (227.9 ± 108.4 μg/dL vs. 307.4 ± 131.2 μg/dL, P = 0.002). IGF1, cortisol:DHEAS ratio, and DHEAS were not significantly correlated with HAM-D scores. Cortisol and testosterone levels were not significantly different between patients and controls. Serum estradiol levels were positively correlated with DHEAS levels (P = 0.00062) in patients, but were not significantly correlated with DHEAS levels in controls. Conclusion Estradiol may affect the pathogenesis and severity of patients with MDD in men, and other hormones, such as those in the HPA and HPS axes, may also be involved in male MDD. Additionally, a correlation between estradiol and DHEAS may affect the pathology of MDD in men.

Download Full-text

An observational study of duloxetine versus SSRI monotherapy in Japanese patients with major depressive disorder: subgroup analyses of treatment effectiveness for pain, depressive symptoms, and quality of life

Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment ◽

10.2147/ndt.s136448 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol Volume 13 ◽

pp. 2115-2124 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Atsushi Kuga ◽

Toshinaga Tsuji ◽

Shinji Hayashi ◽

Shinji Fujikoshi ◽

Hirofumi Tokuoka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Major Depressive Disorder ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Observational Study ◽

Depressive Disorder ◽

Treatment Effectiveness ◽

Japanese Patients ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Subgroup Analyses

Download Full-text

Hot and cold cognitive disturbances in antidepressant-free patients with major depressive disorder: a NeuroPharm study

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291720000938 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

V. H. Dam ◽

D. S. Stenbæk ◽

K. Köhler-Forsberg ◽

C. Ip ◽

B. Ozenne ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Major Depressive Disorder ◽

Reaction Time ◽

Depressive Disorder ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Cognitive Profiles ◽

Depression Severity ◽

Major Depressive ◽

Depressed Patients ◽

Cognitive Disturbances

Abstract Background Cognitive disturbances are common and disabling features of major depressive disorder (MDD). Previous studies provide limited insight into the co-occurrence of hot (emotion-dependent) and cold (emotion-independent) cognitive disturbances in MDD. Therefore, we here map both hot and cold cognition in depressed patients compared to healthy individuals. Methods We collected neuropsychological data from 92 antidepressant-free MDD patients and 103 healthy controls. All participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery assessing hot cognition including emotion processing, affective verbal memory and social cognition as well as cold cognition including verbal and working memory and reaction time. Results The depressed patients showed small to moderate negative affective biases on emotion processing outcomes, moderate increases in ratings of guilt and shame and moderate deficits in verbal and working memory as well as moderately slowed reaction time compared to healthy controls. We observed no correlations between individual cognitive tasks and depression severity in the depressed patients. Lastly, an exploratory cluster analysis suggested the presence of three cognitive profiles in MDD: one characterised predominantly by disturbed hot cognitive functions, one characterised predominantly by disturbed cold cognitive functions and one characterised by global impairment across all cognitive domains. Notably, the three cognitive profiles differed in depression severity. Conclusion We identified a pattern of small to moderate disturbances in both hot and cold cognition in MDD. While none of the individual cognitive outcomes mapped onto depression severity, cognitive profile clusters did. Overall cognition-based stratification tools may be useful in precision medicine approaches to MDD.

Download Full-text