Whole blood cadmium levels and depressive symptoms in Chinese young adults: A prospective cohort study combing metabolomics

Objectives: To investigate the association between Cd exposure and depressive symptoms in Chinese young adults. And to investigate the potential metabolic changes associated with high blood Cd concentrations.Methods: We conducted a cohort study in 2019 and 2021. Blood Cd and depressive symptoms were collected during baseline and follow-up. The nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scores were used to assess depressive symptoms. We used the generalized linear mixed model to estimate the association between blood Cd levels and depressive symptoms. A metabolomic and lipidomic analysis based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was conducted on a total of 679 blood samples. The metabolomic data were analyzed using variance analysis and linear mixed effects models.Results: Blood Cd concentrations were significantly associated with increased severity of depression symptoms [odds ratio (OR) 2.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-4.11]. Metabolomics analysis found 93 metabolites with significant statistical differences between the lowest blood Cd level group and the highest Cd level group. Among the 93 differential metabolites, 17 were enriched in 7 differential metabolic pathways.Conclusions: Blood Cd was associated with increased severity of depression symptoms in Chinese young adults. Cd exposure may affect depressive symptoms by inducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and disrupting amino acid metabolism.

Automated summary

This study investigated the association between blood cadmium levels and depressive symptoms in Chinese young adults and explored potential metabolic changes related to high blood cadmium concentrations. The results showed that blood cadmium concentrations were significantly associated with increased severity of depression symptoms.