Evaluating the effect of birth weight on brain volumes and depression: An observational and genetic study using UK Biobank cohort

Bibliographic Details
Title: Evaluating the effect of birth weight on brain volumes and depression: An observational and genetic study using UK Biobank cohort
Authors: Jing Ye, Cuiyan Wu, Xiaomeng Chu, Yan Wen, Ping Li, Bolun Cheng, Shiqiang Cheng, Li Liu, Lu Zhang, Mei Ma, Xin Qi, Chujun Liang, Om Prakash Kafle, Yumeng Jia, Sen Wang, Xi Wang, Yujie Ning, Feng Zhang
Source: European Psychiatry, Vol 63 (2020)
Publisher Information: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
Publication Year: 2020
Collection: LCC:Psychiatry
Subject Terms: Birth weight, brain volume, depression, polygenic score, Psychiatry, RC435-571
More Details: AbstractBackground.Birth weight influences not only brain development, but also mental health outcomes, including depression, but the underlying mechanism is unclear.Methods.The phenotypic data of 12,872–91,009 participants (59.18–63.38% women) from UK Biobank were included to test the associations between the birth weight, depression, and brain volumes through the linear and logistic regression models. As birth weight is highly heritable, the polygenic risk scores (PRSs) of birth weight were calculated from the UK Biobank cohort (154,539 participants, 56.90% women) to estimate the effect of birth weight-related genetic variation on the development of depression and brain volumes. Finally, the mediation analyses of step approach and mediation analysis were used to estimate the role of brain volumes in the association between birth weight and depression. All analyses were conducted sex stratified to assess sex-specific role in the associations.Result.We observed associations between birth weight and depression (odds ratio [OR] = 0.968, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.957–0.979, p = 2.29 × 10−6). Positive associations were observed between birth weight and brain volumes, such as gray matter (B = 0.131, p = 3.51 × 10−74) and white matter (B = 0.129, p = 1.67 × 10−74). Depression was also associated with brain volume, such as left thalamus (OR = 0.891, 95% CI = 0.850–0.933, p = 4.46 × 10−5) and right thalamus (OR = 0.884, 95% CI = 0.841–0.928, p = 2.67 × 10−5). Additionally, significant mediation effects of brain volume were found for the associations between birth weight and depression through steps approach and mediation analysis, such as gray matter (B = –0.220, p = 0.020) and right thalamus (B = –0.207, p = 0.014).Conclusions.Our results showed the associations among birth weight, depression, and brain volumes, and the mediation effect of brain volumes also provide evidence for the sex-specific of associations.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 0924-9338
1778-3585
Relation: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933820000747/type/journal_article; https://doaj.org/toc/0924-9338; https://doaj.org/toc/1778-3585
DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.74
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/1410313fbc874089a8b25a15eec54152
Accession Number: edsdoj.1410313fbc874089a8b25a15eec54152
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:09249338
17783585
DOI:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.74
Published in:European Psychiatry
Language:English