Treatment-resistant depression and peripheral C-reactive protein

Chamberlain, Samuel R., Cavanagh, Jonathan, de Boer, Peter, Mondelli, Valeria, Jones, Declan N. C., Drevets, Wayne C., Cowen, Philip J., Harrison, Neil A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9584-3769, Pointon, Linda, Pariante, Carmine M. and Bullmore, Edward T. 2019. Treatment-resistant depression and peripheral C-reactive protein. British Journal of Psychiatry 224 (1) , pp. 11-19. 10.1192/bjp.2018.66

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Abstract

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a candidate biomarker for major depressive disorder (MDD), but it is unclear how peripheral CRP levels relate to the heterogeneous clinical phenotypes of the disorder. Aim: To explore CRP in MDD and its phenotypic associations. Method: We recruited 102 treatment-resistant patients with MDD currently experiencing depression, 48 treatment-responsive patients with MDD not currently experiencing depression, 48 patients with depression who were not receiving medication and 54 healthy volunteers. High-sensitivity CRP in peripheral venous blood, body mass index (BMI) and questionnaire assessments of depression, anxiety and childhood trauma were measured. Group differences in CRP were estimated, and partial least squares (PLS) analysis explored the relationships between CRP and specific clinical phenotypes. Results: Compared with healthy volunteers, BMI-corrected CRP was significantly elevated in the treatment-resistant group (P = 0.007; Cohen's d = 0.47); but not significantly so in the treatment-responsive (d = 0.29) and untreated (d = 0.18) groups. PLS yielded an optimal two-factor solution that accounted for 34.7% of variation in clinical measures and for 36.0% of variation in CRP. Clinical phenotypes most strongly associated with CRP and heavily weighted on the first PLS component were vegetative depressive symptoms, BMI, state anxiety and feeling unloved as a child or wishing for a different childhood. Conclusions: CRP was elevated in patients with MDD, and more so in treatment-resistant patients. Other phenotypes associated with elevated CRP included childhood adversity and specific depressive and anxious symptoms. We suggest that patients with MDD stratified for proinflammatory biomarkers, like CRP, have a distinctive clinical profile that might be responsive to second-line treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press (CUP)
ISSN:	0007-1250
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 May 2019
Date of Acceptance:	4 March 2018
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 14:19
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/121422

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