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. 2017 Mar 6;12(3):e0173015.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173015. eCollection 2017.

A bidirectional relationship between depression and the autoimmune disorders - New perspectives from the National Child Development Study

Jack Euesden  1   2 , Andrea Danese  1   3 , Cathryn M Lewis  1   4 , Barbara Maughan  1
Affiliations

A bidirectional relationship between depression and the autoimmune disorders - New perspectives from the National Child Development Study

Jack Euesden et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Depression and the autoimmune disorders are comorbid-the two classes of disorders overlap in the same individuals at a higher frequency than chance. The immune system may influence the pathological processes underlying depression; understanding the origins of this comorbidity may contribute to dissecting the mechanisms underlying these disorders.

Method: We used population cohort data from the 1958 British birth cohort study (the National Child Development Study) to investigate the ages at onset of depression and 23 autoimmune disorders. We used self-report data to ascertain life-time history of depression, autoimmune disorders and their ages at onset. We modelled the effect of depression onset on subsequent autoimmune disorder onset, and vice versa, and incorporated polygenic risk scores for depression and autoimmune disorder risk.

Results: In our analytic sample of 8174 individuals, 315 reported ever being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder (3.9%), 1499 reported ever experiencing depression (18.3%). There was significant comorbidity between depression and the autoimmune disorders (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.27-2.15). Autoimmune disorder onset associated with increased subsequent hazard of depression onset (HR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.11-1.74, P = 0.0037), independently of depression genetic risk. Finally, depression increased subsequent hazard of autoimmune disorder onset (HR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.09-1.80, P = 0.0095), independently of autoimmune disorder genetic risk.

Discussion: Our results point to a bidirectional relationship between depression and the autoimmune disorders. This suggests that shared risk factors may contribute to this relationship, including both common environmental exposures that increase baseline inflammation levels, and shared genetic factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Age at onset distributions for depression and any autoimmune disorder (AD).
Participants with both disorders are shown as points, with darker points representing more individuals with this pair of ages at onset.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Curve illustrating age of onset of depression by reported autoimmune disorder status.
These are Kaplan-Meier curves modified to show 1 minus survival
Fig 3
Fig 3. Curve illustrating age at onset for autoimmune disorders by reported depression status.
These are Kaplan-Meier curves modified to show 1 minus survival
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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