Elevated Neuroimmune Biomarkers in Sweat Patches and Plasma of Premenopausal Women with Major Depressive Disorder in Remission: The POWER Study

BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder (MDD) is inconsistently associated with elevations in proinflammatory cytokines and neuropeptides. We used a skin sweat patch, recently validated in healthy control subjects, and recycling immunoaffinity chromatography to measure neuroimmune biomarkers in patients with MDD mostly in remission. METHODS We collected blood at 8:00 am and applied skin sweat patches for 24 hours in 21- to 45-year-old premenopausal women (n = 19) with MDD (17/19 in remission) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 17) participating in the POWER (Premenopausal, Osteopenia/Osteoporosis, Women, Alendronate, Depression) Study. RESULTS Proinflammatory cytokines, neuropeptide Y, substance P, and calcitonin-gene-related peptide were significantly higher and vasoactive intestinal peptide, a marker of parasympathetic activity, was significantly lower in patients compared to controls, and depressive symptomatology strongly correlated with biomarker levels. All analytes were strongly correlated in the skin sweat patch and plasma in patients (r = .73 to .99; p < .0004). CONCLUSIONS The skin sweat patch allows detection of disrupted patterns of proinflammatory cytokines and neuropeptides in women with MDD in clinical remission, which could predispose to medical consequences such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes. This method permits measurement of cytokines in ambulatory settings where blood collection is not feasible.

[1]  J. Rehfeld,et al.  Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide decreased in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in atypical depression. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, cholecystokinin and gastrin in CSF in psychiatric disorders. , 1984, Journal of affective disorders.

[2]  Alan J. Thomas,et al.  Increase in interleukin-1 beta in late-life depression , 2005 .

[3]  B. Drinkwater,et al.  Excretion of Sweat and Urine Pyridinoline Crosslinks in Healthy Controls and Subjects with Established Metabolic Bone Disease , 2001, Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine.

[4]  M. Schiffman,et al.  Immune profiling of plasma and cervical secretions using recycling immunoaffinity chromatography. , 2003, Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology.

[5]  T. Phillips.  Multi-analyte analysis of biological fluids with a recycling immunoaffinity column array. , 2001, Journal of biochemical and biophysical methods.

[6]  P. Martinez,et al.  Younger, premenopausal women with major depressive disorder have more abdominal fat and increased serum levels of prothrombotic factors: implications for greater cardiovascular risk. , 2005, Metabolism: clinical and experimental.

[7]  Andrew H. Miller,et al.  Immune modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis during viral infection. , 2005, Viral immunology.

[8]  M. Maes,et al.  Stimulatory effect of antidepressants on the production of IL-6. , 2004, International immunopharmacology.

[9]  B. Appenzeller,et al.  Determination of the volume of sweat accumulated in a sweat-patch using sodium and potassium as internal reference. , 2007, Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences.

[10]  E. Sternberg,et al.  Brain-immune interactions and disease susceptibility , 2005, Molecular Psychiatry.

[11]  T. Phillips,et al.  Recycling immunoaffinity chromatography for multiple analyte analysis in biological samples. , 1998, Journal of chromatography. B, Biomedical sciences and applications.

[12]  Kenneth E Freedland,et al.  Depression, mortality, and medical morbidity in patients with coronary heart disease , 2003, Biological Psychiatry.

[13]  Lingjiang Li,et al.  CSF serotonin, 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid and neuropeptide Y levels in severe major depressive disorder , 2006, Brain Research.

[14]  A. Rot,et al.  Normal human sweat contains interleukin‐8 , 1995, Journal of leukocyte biology.

[15]  K. Calis,et al.  Health and Quality of Life Outcomes Quality of Life and Pain in Premenopausal Women with Major Depressive Disorder: the Power Study , 2022 .

[16]  Alan J. Thomas,et al.  Increase in interleukin-1beta in late-life depression. , 2005, The American journal of psychiatry.

[17]  Andrew H. Miller,et al.  Cytokines sing the blues: inflammation and the pathogenesis of depression. , 2006, Trends in immunology.

[18]  D. Kurcgant,et al.  Cytokine profiles in women with different subtypes of major depressive disorder. , 2007, Journal of psychiatric research.

[19]  M. Blackman,et al.  Low bone mass in premenopausal women with depression. , 2007, Archives of internal medicine.

[20]  I. Christie,et al.  Measurement of cytokines in sweat patches and plasma in healthy women: validation in a controlled study. , 2006, Journal of immunological methods.