Depression Augments Plasma APOA4 without Changes of Plasma Lipids and Glucose in Female Adolescents Carrying G Allele of APOA4 rs5104.

The association of apolipoprotein AIV (APOA4) with depression or plasma levels of lipids and glucose has been inconsistently reported. However, interplays between APOA4 and depression on the levels have not been explored yet. The present study aimed to investigate plasma levels of APOA4, lipids, and glucose in adolescents with different genotypes of APOA4 rs5104 and with or without depression. Depressive symptoms were assessed in 631 adolescents by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). A total score of 14 was defined as the cutoff point for depression. Plasma levels of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose, and insulin were measured by routine methods, and APOA4 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses and verified by DNA sequencing. Female adolescents had higher prevalence of depression than male subjects only in G allele carriers (p = 0.015), but not in AA homozygotes. Risk factors of depression and predictors of depression severity were different between G allele carriers and AA homozygotes. Lower levels of glucose (p = 0.003) were observed in male G allele carriers than those in male AA homozygotes and increased TG levels (p = 0.008) in female G allele carriers when compared with those in female AA homozygotes. When both APOA4 rs5104 and depression were taken into account, subjects with depression had higher levels of plasma APOA4 than adolescents without depression only in female G allele carriers (p = 0.043), but no significant changes of plasma lipids and glucose. Depression augments plasma APOA4 levels without changes of plasma lipids and glucose in female adolescents carrying G allele of APOA4 rs5104. These results may provide a novel explanation for the inconsistent relationship between depression, APOA4, and plasma levels of lipids and glucose in the literature.