Abstract
Minor depression is diagnosed when a patient suffers from 2 to 4 depressive symptoms for at least 2 weeks. Though minor depression is a widespread phenomenon, its pathophysiology has hardly been studied. To get a first insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this disorder we assessed serum levels of biomarkers for plasticity, glial and neuronal function: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), S100B and neuron specific enolase (NSE). 27 subjects with minor depressive episode and 82 healthy subjects over 60 years of age were selected from the database of the Leipzig population-based study of civilization diseases (LIFE). Serum levels of BDNF, S100B and NSE were compared between groups, and correlated with age, body-mass index (BMI), and degree of white matter hyperintensities (score on Fazekas scale). S100B was significantly increased in males with minor depression in comparison to healthy males, whereas other biomarkers did not differ between groups (p = 0.10–0.66). NSE correlated with Fazekas score in patients with minor depression (rs = 0.436, p = 0.048) and in the whole sample (rs = 0.252, p = 0.019). S100B correlated with BMI (rs = 0.246, p = 0.031) and with age in healthy subjects (rs = 0.345, p = 0.002). Increased S100B in males with minor depression, without alterations in BDNF and NSE, supports the glial hypothesis of depression. Correlation between white matter hyperintensities and NSE underscores the vascular hypothesis of late life depression.
Highlights
Minor depression is a widespread phenomenon in late life (Hegerl and Schoenknecht, 2009; Polyakova et al, 2015)
brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), S100B and neuron specific enolase (NSE) did not differ between patients in minor depressive episode and healthy control subjects (Table 1)
When the analysis was stratified by sex we observed significantly increased S100B (p = 0.034) in males with minor depressive episode (0.092 μg/l [0.012]) in comparison with healthy male controls (0.067 μg/l [0.004])
Summary
Minor depression is a widespread phenomenon in late life (Hegerl and Schoenknecht, 2009; Polyakova et al, 2015). In clinical practice patients with minor depressive symptoms may represent an independent minor depressive episode or a subsyndromal stage of major depression (Park et al, 2010). Every fourth patient with minor depression develops major depression within 2 years after diagnosis (Lyness et al, 1999) and 13% of subjects with minor depression have attempted suicide at least once (Eaton et al, 1995). With regard to these data proper diagnosis and management of minor depression might become an approach to prevent a more severe depressive disorder
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