Metabolic indexes of obesity in major depressive disorders in different age groups

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common chronic mental illness. Long-term treatment of MDD may lead to changes in internal factors, which may exacerbate obesity. Nevertheless, the metabolic abnormalities associated with MDD across various age groups remain poorly understood. To identify factors related to obesity in MDD patients of all ages during stable treatment, we collected 205 MDD patients divided into adolescent depression (10 ≤ age < 19), adult MDD (19 ≤ age < 60), and late-life depression (60 ≤ age), recorded their names, gender, and age, and then measured their weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and the metabolic indexes of obesity. Finally, the statistical analysis of these indicators was carried out to clarify the relationship between them. The results show that among MDD, with the increase of age, the risk of obesity increases. BMI was positively correlated with age, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, uric acid, alanine aminotransferase, glycosylated hemoglobin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein. But creatine kinase isoenzyme, urea, serum creatinine, and homocysteine were not correlated with BMI. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the value of BMI increased with the increase of age ( B = 0.050, P = .002), aspartate aminotransferase ( B = 0.094, P = .049), alanine aminotransferase ( B = 0.055, P = .016), uric acid ( B = 0.006, P < .021), glycosylated hemoglobin ( B = 0.702, P = .004), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein ( B = 0.101, P < .001). In light of these findings, it is recommended that we should pay more attention to the monitoring of blood metabolism indicators with the increase of age in MDD, in order to facilitate timely clinical decision-making and reduce the risk of obesity in these individuals.