Journal of International Psychiatry

Abstract Objective: To explore the relationship between serum levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p and the severity of first-episode depression in adolescents. Methods: A total of 102 adolescent first-episode depression patients admitted to our hospital from January 2022 to January 2023 were collected as the study subjects (depression group), according to the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), adolescent first-episode depression patients were grouped into mild group (n=44), moderate group (n=33), and severe group (n=25). Another 102 healthy adolescents who came to our hospital for physical examination were collected as the control group, real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR method (RT-qPCR) was applied to measure the serum levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p in all subjects. The basic information and serum levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p were compared among the groups; Spearman correlation was applied to analyze the relationship between serum levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p in adolescent first-episode depression patients and the severity of the condition; Logistic regression was applied to analyze the influencing factors of first-episode depression in adolescents. Results: There was no statistically obvious difference in gender, age, and years of education between the depression group and the control group (P>0.05); there were obvious differences in personality traits, serum miR-128-3p, and miR-624-5p levels, and the levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p in patients with depression were obviously higher than those in the control group (P<0.05); there were obvious differences in serum levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p among adolescent first-episode depression patients with different degrees of illness (P<0.05), and as the degree of illness gradually increased, the serum levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p in patients gradually increased (P<0.05); Spearman correlation analysis showed that serum levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p were obviously positively correlated with the severity of first-episode depression in adolescents (r1=0.632, r2=0.697, P<0.05); the results of Logistic regression analysis showed that serum miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p were risk factors for first-episode depression in adolescents (P<0.05). Conclusion: The serum levels of miR-128-3p and miR-624-5p in adolescent first-episode depression patients are obviously elevated, and are obviously positively correlated with the severity of the patients condition. Detecting these two factors can effectively evaluate the severity of adolescent first-episode depression patients.

Keywords: teenagers; first episode depression; miR-128-3p; miR-624-5p; disease condition