Differential neuropsychiatric associations of plasma biomarkers in older adults with major depression and subjective cognitive decline

Yi Chia Wei, Yi Chia Kung, Chemin Lin, Chun Hung Yeh, Pin Yuan Chen, Wen Yi Huang, Yu Chiau Shyu, Ching Po Lin*, Chih Ken Chen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) or early cognitive decline during the subjective cognitive decline (SCD) stage may exhibit neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and subtle cognitive impairment. The clinicopathological features and biological mechanisms of MDD differ from those of SCD among older adults; these conditions thus require different treatment strategies. This study enrolled 82 participants above 50 years old with normal cognitive levels from the communities to examine biomarker–behavior correlations between MDD (n = 23) and SCD (n = 23) relative to a normal control (NC) group (n = 36). Multidomain assessments were performed for all participants, including immunomagnetic reduction tests to detect plasma beta-amyloid (Aβ), total tau (Tau), phosphorylated tau-181 (p-Tau181), neurofilament light chain, and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). This study observed that depressive symptoms in MDD were associated with amyloid pathology (plasma Aβ40 vs. HADS-D: R = 0.45, p = 0.031; Aβ42/Aβ40 vs. HADS-D: R = −0.47, p = 0.024), which was not observed in the NC (group difference p < 0.05). Moreover, cognitive decline in MDD was distinguished by a mixed neurodegenerative process involving amyloid (plasma Aβ42 vs. facial memory test: R = 0.48, p = 0.025), tau (Tau/Aβ42 vs. digit symbol substitution test (DSST): R = −0.53, p = 0.01), and astrocytic injury (plasma GFAP vs. Montreal cognitive assessment score: R = −0.44, p = 0.038; plasma GFAP vs. DSST: R = −0.52, p = 0.014), findings that did not apply to the NC (group difference p < 0.05). Moreover, this study revealed different biomarker–behavior correlations between individuals with SCD and the NC. Compared with the NC, cognitive decline in the SCD group might be unrelated to amyloid pathology and instead might be early manifestations of tau pathology. This study underscores the difference in clinicopathological features between MDD and SCD among older adults, which differ from those of the NC. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying MDD and SCD in older individuals.

Original languageEnglish
Article number333
Pages (from-to)333
JournalTranslational Psychiatry
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 08 2024

Bibliographical note

© 2024. The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Humans
  • Depressive Disorder, Major/blood
  • Male
  • Female
  • Cognitive Dysfunction/blood
  • Biomarkers/blood
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides/blood
  • tau Proteins/blood
  • Aged
  • Middle Aged
  • Neurofilament Proteins/blood
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein/blood
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Peptide Fragments

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