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. 2024 May 4;10(9):e30718.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30718. eCollection 2024 May 15.

Causal relationships between serum albumin, neuroticism and suicidal ideation in depressed patients: A Mendelian randomization study

Dongling Yuan  1 , Jialing Wu  1 , Shansi Li  1 , Xiao Zhou  1 , Ruoyi Zhang  1 , Yi Zhang  1   2   3
Affiliations

Causal relationships between serum albumin, neuroticism and suicidal ideation in depressed patients: A Mendelian randomization study

Dongling Yuan et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Although serum albumin and neuroticism have revealed a strong association with suicidal ideation in individuals with depression, the causal relationship between them is uncertain. This study analyzed the causal association of serum albumin, neuroticism and suicidal ideation using large-scale GWAS data and Univariable Mendelian Randomization (UVMR) methods. The Multivariable MR (MVMR) analysis was used to explore the causal pathways. UVMR analysis revealed that genetically determined serum albumin is causally associated with neuroticism (β = -0.006 S.D.; 95 % CI: 0.009, -0.002; p = 0.003) and suicidal ideation (β = 0.009 S.D.; 95 % CI: 0.001, 0.016; p = 0.037); and that neuroticism mediates 100 % of the causal association between serum albumin and suicidal ideation in individuals with depression. These findings suggest genetic evidence for the causal effect of serum albumin on suicidal ideation in depressed patients and the significant mediation effect of neuroticism on this causal association. This study proves the protective role of serum albumin for neuroticism and the riskiness of personality traits for suicidal ideation in individuals with depression.

Keywords: Depression; Mendelian randomization; Neuroticism; Serum albumin; Suicidal ideation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the mediated MR design. The mediated MR is performed in two steps. The first step is to calculate the effect of exposure on the mediating variable A. The second step is to calculate the effect of mediation on outcome B. Then the two coefficients are multiplied to obtain the mediating effect. C′ is the effect of exposure on the outcome after adjusting for the mediating variable. SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism. LD, linkage disequilibrium.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mendelian Randomization (MR) Plots for Relationship of serum albumin vs. suicidal ideation. A, Scatterplot of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) potential effects on serum albumin vs. suicidal ideation, with the slope of each line corresponding to estimated MR effect per method. B, Forest plot of individual and combined SNP MR-estimated effects sizes. Data are expressed as raw β values with 95 % CI.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mendelian Randomization (MR) Plots for Relationship of serum albumin vs. neuroticism. A, Scatter plot of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) potential effects on serum albumin vs. neuroticism, with the slope of each line corresponding to estimated MR effect per method. B, Forest plot of individual and combined SNPMR-estimated effects sizes. Data are expressed as raw β values with 95 % CI.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Scatter plot. Scatter plot of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) potential effects on neuroticism vs. suicidal ideation, with the slope of each line corresponding to estimated MR effect per method.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Forest plot. Forest plot of individual and combined SNP MR-estimated effects sizes on neuroticism vs. suicidal ideation. Data are expressed as raw β values with 95 % CI.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Mediation Model Diagram. A diagram illustrating the breakdown of (A) the total effect of serum albumin on suicidal ideation into (B) a direct effect and an indirect effect via neuroticism.
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