Abstract
Depressive symptomology has been linked to low-grade peripheral inflammatory markers (PIMs), specifically C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell count (WBC). However, such associations may be affected by multiple moderators (including race/ethnicity), though few well-powered and racially diverse studies have examined this. We examined 31 moderators of PIM-depression relationships in a large racially diverse cohort (n = 21,570). We also examined if associations between PIM and depression severity were dependent on clinical cutpoints for moderate depressive symptoms and elevated CRP. We found several positive moderators of PIM-depression relationships for both WBC and CRP: ongoing medication use (antidepressant, statin, or any prescription drug), presence of sleep concerns, and poor health status (β’s = 0.06–0.21, p’s < 0.05). For both WBC and CRP, individuals of non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity were found to have stronger PIM-depression associations overall relative to minoritized groups (B’s = 0.14 to 1.01, p’s < 0.05). For CRP, stronger PIM-depression relationships existed for individuals with moderate (or greater) depression severity or elevated CRP (B’s = 0.27 to 0.49, p’s < 0.05). Thus, a wide range of moderators appears to affect PIM-depression associations. These results could help identify participants with strong coupling of PIM-depression severity, to guide future research and personalized treatments for depression and to indicate gaps in the applicability of widely referenced theoretical models among racial/ethnic minoritized groups.
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Funding
This research was supported by funding from the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training Grants sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (Grant No. NIH T32 MH018951: Brent).
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MR and RP contributed to the study conception. MR primarily analyzed data. MR, SA, MS, and RP interpreted the data. MR and MS wrote the paper with input from the other authors.
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Rengasamy, M., Da Costa E Silva, S.A., Spada, M. et al. Does the moderator matter? Identification of multiple moderators of the association between peripheral inflammatory markers and depression severity in a large racially diverse community cohort. Neuropsychopharmacol. 47, 1693–1701 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01341-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01341-1
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