title: Plasma insulin-like growth factor I levels are higher in depressive and anxiety disorders, but lower in antidepressant medication users.
abstract: It has been postulated that many peripheral and (neuro)biological systems are involved in psychiatric disorders such as depression. Some studies found associations of depression and antidepressant treatment with insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) - a pleiotropic hormone affecting neuronal growth, survival and plasticity - but evidence is mixed. We therefore studied whether depressive and anxiety disorders were associated with plasma IGF-I, and explored the role of antidepressant medication in this association in a large observational study. The sample consisted of 2714 participants enrolled in The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, classified as healthy controls (n=602), antidepressant users (76 remitted and 571 with current depressive and/or anxiety disorder(s), n=647), persons having remitted depressive and/or anxiety disorder(s) without antidepressant use (n=502), and persons having current depressive and/or anxiety disorder(s) without antidepressant use (n=963). Associations with IGF-I concentrations were studied and adjusted for socio-demographic, health, and lifestyle variables. Relative to healthy controls, antidepressant-free individuals with current disorders had significantly higher IGF-I levels (Cohen's d=0.08, p=0.006), whereas antidepressant-free individuals with remitted disorders had a trend towards higher IGF-I levels (d=0.06, p=0.09). Associations were evident for depressive and for anxiety disorders. In contrast, antidepressant users had significantly lower IGF-I levels compared to healthy controls (d=-0.08, p=0.028). Our findings suggests that antidepressant medication use modifies the association between depressive/anxiety disorders and plasma IGF-I. These results corroborate with findings of some previous small-scale case-control and intervention studies. The higher IGF-I levels related to depression and anxiety might point to a compensatory mechanism to counterbalance the impaired neurogenesis, although future studies are needed to support this hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: VU University Medical Center and GGZ inGeest, Department of Psychiatry, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.bot@ggzingeest.nl.
authors.forename: Mariska
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bot
authors.affiliation: VU University Medical Center and GGZ inGeest, Department of Psychiatry, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Milaneschi
authors.affiliation: VU University Medical Center and GGZ inGeest, Department of Psychiatry, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Brenda W J H
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Penninx
authors.affiliation: VU University Medical Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Endocrine Section, Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, VU University, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Madeleine L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Drent
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
keywords: Antidepressant medication; Anxiety disorders; Cohort; Depressive disorders; Insulin-like growth factor-I; Neurotrophic factor