The Role of Neuropeptide Y mRNA Expression Level in Distinguishing Different Types of Depression

Abstract

Previous studies demonstrate that the protein of neuropeptide Y (NPY) is abnormal in depression patients, but the changes of NPY in different types of depression are unclear. This study was aimed to examine protein and mRNA expression levels of NPY in 159 cases with four groups including post-stroke depression (PSD) group, stroke without depression (Non-PSD) group, major depressive disorder (MDD) group and normal control (NC) group. The protein and gene expression analysis were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based methods. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square tests and nonparametric test were used to evaluate general characteristics, clinical and biological materials. In order to explore the role of NPY in different types of depression, the partial correlations, binary logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were calculated for PSD and MDD groups. There are significant differences of NPY protein (Fdf(3) = 5.167, P = 0.002) and mRNA expression levels (χKruskal2-Wallis, df(3) = 20.541, P < 0.001) among four groups. Bonferroni multiple comparisons found that the NPY protein was significantly decreased in PSD (FBonferroni = −7.133, P = 0.002) and Non-PSD group (FBonferroni = −5.612, P = 0.018) compared with NC group. However, contrasted with MDD group, the mRNA expression was increased in PSD and Non-PSD group by nonparametric test (all P < 0.05). In binary logistic analyses, NPY mRNA expression was independent predictors of PSD (odds ratio: 1.452, 95% CI, 1.081–1.951, P = 0.013). The ROC curve showed NPY mRNA had a general prognostic accuracy (area under the curve: 0.766, 95% CI, 0.656–0.876, P < 0.001). This is the first study to explore the distinguishing function of NPY in different types of depression. It will provide help in the identification of different subtypes of depression.

Gene expression profiles of endothelium, microglia and oligodendrocytes in hippocampus of post-stroke depression rat at single cell resolution

“…There are more notable differences between PSD and major depressive disorder (MDD) beyond several similarities, including that PSD shows the closer link with vascular injury, more severe depressive symptoms, more cognitive impairment, less anhedonia and disturbances in sleep/cyclic functions as well as the higher prevalence of physical disability 49 . In addition, previous studies have also uncovered some biomarkers that can distinguish PSD and MDD in clinical practice 50,51 , but have yet to reveal the regulatory network behind it. Therefore, it is reasonable to include the cellular and genetic comparison between DEPR and MD into the scope of our investigation.…”

The protein and mRNA expression levels of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor in post stroke depression and major depressive disorder

“…The GDNF level differences between PSD and MDD groups suggest that PSD has different pathological mechanisms with MDD. The stress property (acute or chronic) and the time accumulation impacting the changes of gene expression may be a possible explanation 4 , as MDD patients suffer chronic stress while PSD patients suffer acute stress of stroke and chronic stress of depression as well.…”

“…Based on previous preclinical and clinical studies, there are several mechanisms, including neurotrophic signaling, cellular plasticity and activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal may participate in the pathogenesis and progression of PSD 4 . As to the neurotrophic and neurochemical factors, structural and functional modification of the brain associated with synaptic plasticity has been suggested as an etiology of psychiatric disorders 5 .…”

Bone Health in Mood Disorders: A Narrative Review about Clinical and Biological Connections

“…NPY has been studied in DD as a diagnostic biomarker [58] and in BD as a suicideattempt marker [59]. NPY seems to be primarily affected in DD, and it contributes to its clinical presentation [60].…”