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Objectives: Inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of depression. A few cross-sectional population-based studies have found that depression is associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers. Soluble urokinase plasminogen activation receptor (suPAR) is known to be a stable marker for inflammation. We investigated the bidirectional association between suPAR levels and use of antidepressants. Methods: suPAR level was measured in 9305 blood donors and analysed in relation to 5-years follow-up data on purchase of antidepressants and hospital diagnoses of depression from a nationwide Danish register. Results: For men and women without prior use of antidepressants we found a significantly higher risk for incident use of antidepressants with higher suPAR values. For men, the risk of first use of antidepressants increased by 72% from the 1st to the 4th quartile (HR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.11–2.69). For women, it increased by 108% from the 1st to the 4th quartile (HR = 2.08, 95% CI: 1.45–2.98). Previous use of antidepressants was also significantly associated with higher suPAR levels (p = 0.002). Conclusions: High suPAR levels are associated with an increased risk for both previous and future use of antidepressants in healthy men and women. High suPAR are also associated with increased risk for a hospital diagnosis of depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cytokine response plays a vital role in various human lipopolysaccharide (LPS) infectious and inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to find genetic variants that might affect the levels of LPS-induced interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1ra and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α cytokine production. Methods: We performed an initial genome-wide association study using Affymetrix Human Mapping 500 K GeneChip® to screen 130 healthy individuals of Danish descent. The levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1ra and TNF-α in 24-hour LPS-stimulated whole blood samples were compared within different genotypes. The 152 most significant SNPs were replicated using Illumina Golden Gate® GeneChip in an independent cohort of 186 Danish individuals. Next, 9 of the most statistical significant SNPs were replicated using PCR-based genotyping in an independent cohort of 400 Danish individuals. All results were analyzed in a combined study among the 716 Danish individuals. Results: Only one marker of the 500 K Gene Chip in the discovery study showed a significant association with LPS-induced IL-1ra cytokine levels after Bonferroni correction (P<10−7). However, this SNP was not associated with the IL-1ra cytokine levels in the replication dataset. No SNPs reached genome-wide significance for the five cytokine levels in the combined analysis of all three stages. Conclusions: The associations between the genetic variants and the LPS-induced IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1ra and TNF-α cytokine levels were not significant in the meta-analysis. This present study does not support a strong genetic effect of LPS-stimulated cytokine production; however, the potential for type II errors should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]