Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34088979›Full record

ArticleMolecular psychiatry2021

A metabolome-wide association study in the general population reveals decreased levels of serum laurylcarnitine in people with depression.

Helena U Zacharias, Johannes Hertel, Hamimatunnisa Johar, Maik Pietzner, Karoline Lukaschek, Seryan Atasoy, Sonja Kunze, Henry Völzke, Matthias Nauck, Nele Friedrich and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed.

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  8. [Gender differences in acylcarnitine metabolism among patients with depression disorder].Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Helena U ZachariasDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Johannes HertelDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Hamimatunnisa JoharInstitute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
Maik PietznerInstitute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Karoline LukaschekInstitute of General Practice and Family Medicine, University Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Seryan AtasoyDepartment of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Gießen and Marburg, Gießen, Germany.
Sonja KunzeInstitute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
Henry VölzkeInstitute of Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Matthias NauckInstitute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6678-7964
Nele FriedrichInstitute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Gabi KastenmüllerInstitute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
Hans J GrabeDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
Christian GiegerInstitute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
Jan KrumsiekInstitute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
Karl-Heinz LadwigInstitute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany. karl-heinz.ladwig@tum.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0221-311X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Depression constitutes a leading cause of disability worldwide. Despite extensive research on its interaction with psychobiological factors, associated pathways are far from being elucidated. Metabolomics, assessing the final products of complex biochemical reactions, has emerged as a valuable tool for exploring molecular pathways. We conducted a metabolome-wide association analysis to investigate the link between the serum metabolome and depressed mood (DM) in 1411 participants of the KORA (Cooperative Health Research in the Augsburg Region) F4 study (discovery cohort). Serum metabolomics data comprised 353 unique metabolites measured by Metabolon. We identified 72 (5.1%) KORA participants with DM. Linear regression tests were conducted modeling each metabolite value by DM status, adjusted for age, sex, body-mass index, antihypertensive, cardiovascular, antidiabetic, and thyroid gland hormone drugs, corticoids and antidepressants. Sensitivity analyses were performed in subcohorts stratified for sex, suicidal ideation, and use of antidepressants. We replicated our results in an independent sample of 968 participants of the SHIP-Trend (Study of Health in Pomerania) study including 52 (5.4%) individuals with DM (replication cohort). We found significantly lower laurylcarnitine levels in KORA F4 participants with DM after multiple testing correction according to Benjamini/Hochberg. This finding was replicated in the independent SHIP-Trend study. Laurylcarnitine remained significantly associated (p value < 0.05) with depression in samples stratified for sex, suicidal ideation, and antidepressant medication. Decreased blood laurylcarnitine levels in depressed individuals may point to impaired fatty acid oxidation and/or mitochondrial function in depressive disorders, possibly representing a novel therapeutic target.

Indexed as

DepressionMetabolomeBody Mass IndexCohort StudiesHumansMetabolomics

Identifiers

PMID34088979
PMCPMC8873015

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.