Objectives Previous epidemiological studies about oxidative stress and depression are limited by hospital-based case-control design, single-time measurements of oxidative stress biomarkers, and the small number of study participants. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed the association between biomarker of oxidative stress and depressive symptom scores using repeatedly measured panel data from a community-dwelling elderly population.
Methods From 2008 to 2010, a total of 478 elderly participants residing in Seoul, Korea, were evaluated three times. Participants underwent the Korean version of the Short Form Generic Depression Scale (SGDS-K) test for screening depression, and urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured as an oxidative stress biomarker. We used a generalized estimating equation with a compound symmetry covariance structure to estimate the effects of oxidative stress on depressive symptom scores.
Results A two-fold increase in urinary MDA concentration was significantly associated with a 33.88% (95% confidence interval [CI], 21.59% to 47.42%) increase in total SGDS-K scores. In subgroup analyses by gender, a two-fold increase in urinary MDA concentration was significantly associated with increased SGDS-K scores in both men and women (men: 30.88%; 95% CI, 10.24% to 55.37%; women: 34.77%; 95% CI, 20.09% to 51.25%). In bivariate analysis after an SGDS-K score ≥8 was defined as depression, the third and the fourth urinary MDA quartiles showed a significantly increased odds ratio(OR) of depression compared to the lowest urinary MDA quartile (third quartile OR, 6.51; 95% CI, 1.77 to 24.00; fourth quartile OR, 7.11; 95% CI, 1.99 to 25.42).
Conclusions Our study suggests a significant association between oxidative stress and depressive symptoms in the elderly population.
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OBJECTIVES Malondialdehyde (MDA), a lipid peroxidation by-product, has been widely used as an indicator of oxidative stress. Urinary 2-naphthol, a urinary PAH metabolite, is used as a marker of ambient particulate exposure and is associated with lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the stability and intra-individual variation associated with urinary MDA and 2-naphthol have not been thoroughly addressed. The objective of this study was to assess the stability and intraindividual variation associated with urinary MDA and 2-naphthol. METHODS: Urine samples were collected from 10 healthy volunteers (mean age 34, range 27~42 years old). Each sample was divided into three aliquots and stored under three different conditions. The levels of urinary MDA and 2-naphthol were analyzed 1) just after sampling, 2) after storage at room temperature (21degrees C) for 16 hours, and 3) after storage in a -20degrees C freezer for 16 hours. In addition, an epidemiological study was conducted in 44 Chinese subjects over a period of 3 weeks. The urinary MDA and 2-naphthol were measured by HPLC three times. RESULTS: There was no difference in the levels of urinary MDA and 2-naphthol between the triplicate measurements (n=10, p=0.84 and p=0.83, respectively). The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for urinary MDA and 2-naphthol were 0.74 and 0.42, respectively. However, the levels of PM2.5 in the air were well correlated with the levels of both MDA and 2-naphthol in the epidemiological study. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that urinary MDA and 2-naphthol remain stable under variable storage conditions, even at room temperature for 16 hours, and indicate that these markers can be used in epidemiological studies involving various sample storage conditions. The intra-CC of urinary 2-naphthol and MDA were acceptable for application to epidemiological studies.
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