The Relationship Between Neuropeptide Y, Childhood Trauma And Depressive Symptoms In Chinese Adolescents

Objective: To investigate the status of childhood trauma,resilience and depressive symptoms of adolescents in Wuhan,and to explore the relationships between childhood trauma,resilience and depressive symptoms.To investigate the association between NPY gene polymorphism and depressive symptoms,as well as the interaction of NPY gene polymorphism and childhood trauma on adolescent depressive symptoms,and to explore the moderating role of resilience in this relationship.Methods: Cluster sampling was used to investigate the students from four high school(grade 7 to 10)and three primary school(grade 6)in Wuhan city,Hubei province,from September to December 2015.906 students were collected for self-assessment questionnaire survey and buccal cell collection.The questionnaire included demographic characteristics,The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale(CES-D),The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire(CTQ)and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale(CD-RISC).DNA was extracted from buccal cells,and two functional SNPs from NPY gene were selected for genotyping.Statistical analysis methods such as t-test,Chi-square,analysis of variance,logistic regression analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used in this study.Results: 1.Depressive symptoms of adolescents: The mean score of CES-D in the sample was 12.47±10.66.Female,older age,lower family income,family history of depression and lower parents’ education were related with higher level of depressive symptoms(all P < 0.05).2.Childhood trauma and the association of childhood trauma and depressive symptoms among adolescents: There were 445(49.1%)students with childhood trauma.Child with sibling and lower mother’s education were associated with higher rate of childhood trauma(P < 0.05).The multiple linear regression analysis showed that adolescents with childhood trauma reported higher level of depressive symptoms than those without childhood trauma(P < 0.05).3.Resilience and the associations of childhood trauma,resilience and depressive symptoms among adolescents: The mean score of CD-RISC in the sample was56.85±18.67.Child with sibling,lower parents’ education and lower monthly income per person were related to lower level of resilience(P < 0.05).Moreover,resilience protected adolescents from depressive symptoms,and played a moderator role between physical abuse,sexual abuse,physical neglect and depressive symptoms(P < 0.05).4.The association of NPY gene polymorphism and depressive symptoms: There were no significant relationships between NPY rs16124,rs16148 and depressive symptoms(P>0.05).5.The interaction of NPY gene polymorphism and childhood trauma: After adjusting for demographic characteristics,compared with adolescents with rs16124 TT genotype,adolescents with TG+GG genotype showed higher level of depressive symptoms when exposed to physical abuse.Adolescents carrying rs16148 TT genotype showed higher scores of depressive symptoms than carriers of TC+CC genotype when exposed to emotional abuse.(P < 0.05).6.The moderating role of resilience in the relationships between NPY gene polymorphism,childhood trauma and depression symptoms: In the low resilience group,adolescents carrying rs16148 TT genotype were more likely to develop depressive symptoms after physical abuse(P < 0.05).Conclusions: Childhood trauma was associated with higher level of depressive symptoms.Resilience moderated the association between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms.And there were no direct effect of NPY gene polymorphism to depressive symptoms.While the interactions of NPY rs16124,rs16148 and childhood trauma were related with depressive symptoms,and resilience played a moderating role in this relationship.