On February 14, a study published in Nature Cardiovascular Research showed that the lower frequency of depression was associated with a 34% lower risk of coronary artery disease, a 33% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and a 20% lower risk of atrial fibrillation, although the study did not take into account lifestyle risk factors and genetic predisposition. In addition, the association between depression and coronary artery disease was higher in women than in men, and women with coronary artery disease were 2 times more likely than men to develop depression.
The study cohort included 328152 genotyping, unrelated, European-ancestry participants from the UK Biobank. The average age of the study sample was 56.8 years, and 173333 (52.8%) were female. Overall, 255078 (77.7%) reported no depressive episodes (low frequency) in the past 2 weeks, 59,950 (18.3%) reported depression (medium frequency) for days in the past 2 weeks, and 13,124 (4.0%) reported depression (high frequency) on more than half of the days or almost every day.
Among baseline populations, people with higher frequencies of depression were younger, more likely to be female, smokers, and had lower intake of vegetables and fresh fruits, less exercise and sleep, higher body mass index (BMI), higher C-reactive protein (inflammation), and more coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and type 2 diabetes.
The frequency of depressed mood stratifies the polygenic risk of CAD and T2D. The absolute incidence of CAD(a), T2D(b), and atrial fibrillation (c) is based on the polygenic risk layer and the frequency of depression
After adjusting for covariates including the frequency of depressed mood, an increased genetic risk was associated with a higher risk of coronary artery disease. (Risk ratio of CAD polygenic risk per square score HR:1. 32), T2D (HR per squared score: 1.38) and atrial fibrillation (HR per squared score: 1.46). Higher frequency of depression was associated with higher risk scores for coronary arteries and T2D polygenes, but higher frequencies were not associated with atrial fibrillation scores.
The frequency of depressed mood stratifies the polygenic risk of CAD and T2D. The absolute incidence of CAD(a), T2D(b), and atrial fibrillation (c) is based on the polygenic risk layer and the frequency of depression.
After further adjustment of lifestyle factors, cardiovascular risk factors, and C-reactive protein, the frequency of depression remained statistically significant in association with the outcome of its disease, including the occurrence of CAD and T2D, while there was no significant association with the development of atrial fibrillation.
In polygenic high-risk individuals with the highest absolute risk of developing the disease, low depression burden was independently associated with a lower CAD and T2D risk compared with a high depression burden and was reduced by 30 to 32%.
This finding is consistent with recent Mendelian randomization analyses suggesting that depression may be a causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease. These findings mean that the management of depressed mood can reduce the risk of cardiac metabolism. However, there is a lack of high-quality data on the effects of depression treatment on cardiometabolic outcomes, particularly in primary prevention populations, and high-quality randomized trials are needed to confirm this hypothesis.
This study expands our understanding of the potential role of depression in the development of cardiovascular disease. However, the authors conclude that future studies will need to identify the mechanisms of this association and analyze the potential effects on some treatments.
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Written by | K.K
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