Relationship between somatic symptoms of major depressive disorder and cortisol rhythm change / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the relationship between somatic symptoms of major depressive disorder(MDD)and cortisol(COR) rhythm, C-reactive protein(CRP) and other immune-metabolism-related indicators, and understand its mechanism from the perspective of endocrine and immune regulation.Methods:A case-control study was conducted in hospitalized patients with MDD who met DSM-5 diagnostic criteria.According to the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15), PHQ-15 ≥10 were classified as the somatic major depressive disorder group(S-MDD group) and 73 patients were enrolled.PHQ-15 <5 was classified as the non-somatic depressive disorder group (NS-MDD group) and 70 patients were enrolled.Plasma cortisol (COR8, COR16 and COR24) levels were measured at 8∶00, 16∶00 and 24∶00 on the same day, plasma CRP and interleukin-6 (IL-6) level, serum uric acid (UA), blood glucose (GLU), blood lipid (TC, TG, HDL, LDL) level were detected at 8∶00.Independent sample t test, non-parametric test, chi-square test, repeated ANOVA, covariance analysis, and multivariate Logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results:①Time effect, grouping effect and the interaction effect of the time and grouping in the level of COR were statistically significant ( P<0.05). Covariance analysis excluded age as an influential factor, COR16, AUC(total cortisol output/area under the curve, AUC) and COR8-16 in S-MDD group ((90.50±40.57)μg/L, (1 425.12±564.78), (-6.43±5.76))were higher than those in NS-MDD group((68.74±31.51)μg/L, (1 251.57±456.61), (-8.77±5.48)), and the difference was statistically significant ( F=8.971, 4.320, 8.731, P<0.05). ②CRP in S-MDD group ((1.41±1.06)mg/L) were higher than that in NS-MDD group((0.61±0.53)mg/L), and the difference was statistically significant ( F=25.436, P<0.05). The proportion of patients with higher CRP level(CRP≥1 mg/L) in S-MDD group(58%) was higher than that in NS-MDD group(23%), and the difference was statistically significant(χ 2=17.824, P<0.01). ③Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that CRP ( OR=4.953, 95% CI 2.407-10.193), COR8-16 ( OR=3.451, 95% CI 1.380-8.633) were main risk factors of somatic symptoms of MDD ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Cortisol rhythm disturbance and high CRP level may be the biological basis of somatic symptoms in patients with MDD.