Abstract
BackgroundStudies have provided evidence that both childhood maltreatment and depressive disorders are associated with shortened telomere lengths. However, as childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for depression, it remains unclear whether this may be driving shortened telomere lengths observed amongst depressed patients. Furthermore, it's unclear if the effects of maltreatment on telomere length shortening are more pervasive amongst depressed patients relative to controls, and consequently whether biological ageing may contribute to depression's pathophysiology. The current study assesses the effects of childhood maltreatment, depression case/control status, and the interactive effect of both childhood maltreatment and depression case/control status on relative telomere length (RTL). MethodDNA samples from 80 depressed subjects and 100 control subjects were utilized from a U.K. sample (ages 20–84), with childhood trauma questionnaire data available for all participants. RTL was quantified using quantitative polymerase chain reactions. Univariate linear regression analyses were used to assess the effects of depression status, childhood maltreatment and depression by childhood maltreatment interactions on RTL. The false discovery rate (q<0.05) was used for multiple testing correction. ResultsAnalysis of depression case/control status showed no significant main effect on RTL. Four subtypes of childhood maltreatment also demonstrated no significant main effect on RTL, however a history of physical neglect did significantly predict shorter RTL in adulthood (F(1, 174)=7.559, p=0.007, q=0.042, Variance Explained=4.2%), which was independent of case/control status. RTL was further predicted by severity of physical neglect, with the greatest differences observed in older maltreated individuals (>50 years old). There were no significant depression case/control status by childhood maltreatment interactions. LimitationsA relatively small sample limited our power to detect interaction effects, and we were unable to consider depression chronicity or recurrence. ConclusionShortened RTL was specifically associated with childhood physical neglect, but not the other subtypes of maltreatment or depression case/control status. Our results suggest that the telomere-eroding effects of physical neglect may represent a biological mechanism important in increasing risk for ageing-related disorders. As physical neglect is more frequent amongst depressed cases generally, it may also represent a confounding factor driving previous associations between shorter RTL and depression case status.
Highlights
Psychiatric disorders, such as depression, have been linked to a heightened risk of severe medical conditions as well as early naturally occurring mortality (Viron and Stern, 2010; O'Donovan et al, 2011; Penninx et al, 2013)
The telomere reaction achieved a mean PCR efficiency of 87.1%, and the albumin reaction had an efficiency of 79.1%, which is consistent with previously published results from studies using quantitative polymerase chain reactions (qPCRs) to assay relative telomere length (RTL) (Hovatta et al, 2012), and corrected for through the use of a standard curve
This study aimed to investigate the impact of childhood maltreatment, depression case/control status and the interaction between the two, on RTL, a marker of biological ageing (Eitan et al, 2014)
Summary
Psychiatric disorders, such as depression, have been linked to a heightened risk of severe medical conditions as well as early naturally occurring mortality (Viron and Stern, 2010; O'Donovan et al, 2011; Penninx et al, 2013). There have been mixed reports, most individually conducted studies have shown that depressed patients exhibit shortened telomere lengths in their blood cells relative to controls, which is indicative of biologically older cells (Hartmann et al, 2010; Simon et al, 2006; Garcia-Rizo et al, 2013; Elvsåshagen et al, 2011; Hoen et al, 2011; Lung et al, 2007; Verhoeven et al, 2014; Wikgren et al, 2012) This association has further been confirmed in recent meta-analyses (Schutte and Malouff, 2015; Ridout et al, 2016; Darrow et al, 2016; Lin et al, 2016). As physical neglect is more frequent amongst depressed cases generally, it may represent a confounding factor driving previous associations between shorter RTL and depression case status
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