Association of serum adiponectin levels and body mass index with worsening depressive symptoms in elderly individuals: a 10-year longitudinal study

Abstract

Objectives: Data regarding the association between adiponectin levels and body mass index (BMI) and long-term changes in depressive symptoms are limited and inconsistent. Thus, we investigated whether circulating adiponectin levels and BMI were independently and combinedly correlated to longitudinal changes in depressive symptoms.

Methods: This prospective cohort study evaluated 269 elderly Japanese individuals aged ≥70 years who participated in the Tsurugaya Project conducted between 2002 and 2012. A short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used to assess depressive status. Serum adiponectin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or a latex particle-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay. BMI was calculated as body weight (kg)/height (m²).

Results: Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that baseline serum adiponectin levels were positively associated with changes in GDS scores (β = 0.14, P = 0.035). However, no association was observed after adjusting for BMI (β = 0.09, P = 0.185). Low BMI was associated with increased GDS scores at the 10-year follow-up (β = -0.14, P = 0.033). Participants with a combination of high adiponectin levels and low BMI had a 3.3-fold higher risk of worsening depressive symptoms than those with low adiponectin levels and high BMI (odds ratio: 3.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.60–7.00; P = 0.001).

Conclusions: This longitudinal study indicated that high serum adiponectin levels and low BMI were both associated with worsening depressive symptoms among older Japanese individuals. Furthermore, the combination of high adiponectin levels and low BMI was associated with worsening depressive symptoms.

Keywords:

• Adipokine
• depression
• jolly fat
• adiponectin paradox
• longitudinal study

Acknowledgments

We are extremely grateful to all of the participants of the Tsurugaya Project. We also would like to thank our staff for their dedicated work.

Declaration statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan (Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists A; 21689018); and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, Japan (Health Sciences Research Grants for Health Service; H24-Choju-Ippan-005). In addition, this work was partially supported by the Center of Innovation Program from the Japan Science and Technology Agency. The funding sources had no involvement in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.