Plasma advanced glycation products are associated with increased risk of depression in middle-aged and elderly Chinese adults

Abstract

Depression is becoming a critical health challenge for the middle-aged and elderly populations. Existing evidence on the associations between body accumulations of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and depression remain inconsistent. We hypothesized that plasma AGEs concentration might be positively correlated with the incidence of depression in middle-aged and elderly adults. In this cross-sectional study with 586 participants (201 males and 385 females, mean age: 62.18 years old) from Suzhou city, depression was assessed via the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale 10-item version (CES-D-10). Plasma AGEs of free Nε-carboxymethyl-L-lysine (CML), Nε-(1-carboxyethyl) lysine (CEL), and Nδ-(5-hydro-5-methyl-4-imidazolon-2-yl)-ornithine (MG-H1), as well as protein bound CEL and CML were measured with ultraperformance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Multivariate linear regression analysis and logistic regression analysis were utilized to determine the associations between specific plasma AGEs and CES-D-10 score and the incidence of depression, respectively. The incidence of depression was 8.02%. Plasma protein bound CEL and CML concentration were positively correlated with CES-D-10 score (CEL: β=0.12, P=0.018; CML: β=0.14; P=0.034) in the linear regression analysis. Compared to those below the median concentration of bound CEL and CML, participants with bound CEL and CML concentration above the median had increased risk of depression [ORs (95% CI): 2.33 (1.13-4.84), P=0.023, and ORs (95% CI): 2.27 (1.16-4.43), P=0.016, respectively] in the logistic regression analysis. Elevated plasma bound CEL and CML might be associated with increased risk of depression. Further studies are required to confirm the associations between specific AGEs and the risk of depression.