THE CORRELATION BETWEEN TENASCIN-C AND SEX HORMONE LEVELS IN DEPRESSIVE PATIENTS: A POTENTIAL DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

Christian Cedric Bongolo*, Linzy Elton, Chelsea Fisher and Terence Olivier Ohoya Etsaka

ABSTRACT

Objective: The current research was performed to investigate the association between serum testosterone and Tenascin-C levels in people with depressive disease, and assess the potential significance of Tenascin-C as a predictive parameter for the assessment of depressive symptoms. Method: The levels of Tenascin-C were detected in the serum of 117 clinically depressive patients and matched 104 healthy blood donors by enzyme-linked immune-absorbance assay tests. Concentrations of estradiol, testosterone, free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine, thyroid-stimulating hormone and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were also analyzed. Results: We found that patients with depression had lower levels of testosterone, free triiodothyronine, thyroid-stimulating hormone and testosterone/estradiol ratios than healthy controls, while Tenascin-C and hs-CRP levels were higher in patients compared with control subjects. The sensitivity of Tenascin-C in detecting depression was 83% at a specificity of 64%. Multiple linear regression analysis displayed that testosterone, testosterone/estradiol ratios and Tenascin-C levels were negatively correlated in male depressive patients. Increased Tenascin-C serum levels are associated with depression severity (p=0.003) and suicidal ideation (p=0.013). Conclusion: the progression of depressive disorder is potentially influenced by the up-regulation of TNC in the presence of low hormone concentrations in male patients.

Keywords: Tenascin-C; Sex hormone; Depression; Thyroid hormones.