title: The relationship of C-reactive protein to obesity-related depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obesity has been shown to produce a state of systematic low-grade inflammation that may have detrimental neuropsychiatric effects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal associations between obesity, inflammation, and depressive symptoms amongst a cohort of older English adults over 4 years of follow-up were examined. Participants were 3,891 obese and nonobese people drawn from the English longitudinal study of ageing (ELSA) [aged 64.9 (SD = 8.8) years, 44.6% men]. Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and after 4 years of follow-up using the eight-item center for epidemiological studies-depression scale (CES-D).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 26.3% (N = 1,025) of the sample were categorized as obese at baseline. Obesity at baseline was associated with elevated levels of depressive symptoms at follow-up (P < 0.001), in analyses that adjusted for depression levels at baseline and sociodemographic and background variables including the prevalence of permanent illness/disability, alcohol consumption, sedentary behavior, and smoking. In addition, C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations at baseline were independently associated with CES-D depression scores at follow-up (P = 0.008) in fully adjusted analyses. Subsequent mediation analyses revealed that CRP levels explained ∼20% of the obesity-related longitudinal change in depression scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that chronic inflammation may be a key determinant of depressive symptoms in obesity.
authors: Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom. m.daly@abdn.ac.uk
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Daly
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein