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310594
Depression symptoms and vitamin B6 status among reproductive-aged women in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
: 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Joycelyn Faraj, MS
,
Nutrition Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
Alayne Ronnenberg, ScD
,
Nutrition Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
Lisa M. Troy, PhD
,
Department of Nutrition, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA
Elizabeth R Bertone-Johnson
,
Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Carol Bigelow, PhD
,
Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
Richard Wood, PhD
,
Nutrition Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
Women in their childbearing years are 2-3 times more likely than men to experience depression. The metabolite of vitamin B6, pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP) is a coenzyme in the tryptophan-serotonin pathway, and a lack of vitamin B6 may cause depression. We conducted a secondary data analysis to evaluate the association between depression and serum PLP in non-pregnant females ages 15 to 49 from the cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006. Depression scores were calculated based on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and categorized into no depression, mild, moderate, moderate-severe, and severe depression (scores 0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, and 20-27 respectively). To account for NHANES’ complex survey sample, weighted measures were used for analysis of the 4,211 observations included in this study. Twenty-six percent of women reported experiencing some symptoms of depression, and a third had vitamin B6 deficiency (<30nmol/L). Vitamin B6-deficient women had higher depression scores (5.03 vs 2.89; p=0.001), higher body mass index (30.1 vs 26.7 kg/m2; p<0.001), elevated inflammation (c-reactive protein 0.71 vs 0.35 mg/dl; p<0.001), lower serum vitamin D (51.1 vs 64.3 nmol/L; p<0.001) and increased homocysteine (7.36 vs 6.73 µmol/L; p=0.03) compared to women with normal B6 status. There was a significant positive linear trend among vitamin B6 deficiency and depression categories (p-trend<0.001). In multivariate logistic regression, women who were moderately-to-severely depressed were 12 times more likely to have B6 deficiency compared to women with no depression (OR: 12.8, 95%CI 2.99, 54.67) after controlling for age, serum vitamin D, body mass index, and inflammation. Shedding light on the etiology of depression in women and the potential role of vitamin B6 in this association may help develop adequate prevention and treatment strategies for depression.
Learning Areas:
Basic medical science applied in public health
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Epidemiology
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the association between depression symptoms and serum vitamin B6 in non-pregnant females ages 15 to 49 from the cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006.
Keyword(s): Depression, Women's Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have completed an MS in Nutritional Science, where I studied female health, nutritional and inflammatory biomarkers. I am in my last year of my doctoral degree in Public health (major in Nutrition and a minor area of expertise in epidemiology). I am submitting an abstract for one of my three research studies included in my dissertation: Depression, vitamin B6 and depression in the female population in the US using NHANES.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
