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. 2024 Jun;52(3):211-220.
doi: 10.62641/aep.v52i3.1637.

Genetic Causal Associations between Various Serum Minerals and Risk of Depression: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Yuan Wang  1 , Lini Liu  2 , Dong Yang  1
Affiliations

Genetic Causal Associations between Various Serum Minerals and Risk of Depression: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Yuan Wang et al. Actas Esp Psiquiatr. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Previous observational studies have discovered a connection between depression and mineral status. Confirming this potential connection is challenging due to confounding factors and potential reverse causality which is inherent in observational studies.

Materials and methods: We performed a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to estimate the causal association of serum minerals with depression. Leveraging summary-level data on depression, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was applied. The data on serum minerals were collected from the FinnGen Biobank database. MR assessments representing causality were produced by inverse-variance weighted approaches with multiplicative random and fixed effects.

Result: Sensitivity analyses were performed to validate the reliability of the results. A noteworthy correlation emerged between serum zinc levels and reduced risk of depression. An odds ratio (OR) of 0.917 for depression associated with a one standard deviation increase in serum zinc levels (OR = 0.968; 95% CI = 0.953-0.984, p = 1.19 × 10-4, random effects model inverse variance weighted (IVW)); (OR = 0.928; 95% CI = 0.634-1.358, p = 0.766, MR Egger). Sensitivity assessments supported this causation. However, the risk of depression did not exhibit an association with other minerals.

Conclusions: In summary, a higher zinc concentration is causally associated with a reduced depression risk. This MR outcome may assist clinicians in the regulation of specific mineral intake, particularly for high-risk patients with serum zinc deficiencies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Conceptual framework for the Mendelian randomization analysis of serum mineral levels and risk of depression. The three core assumptions were as follows: (1) the SNPs should be related to serum minerals, (2) the SNPs should be independent of the confounders, and (3) the SNPs could affect depression via serum minerals. SNPs, single nucleotide polymorphisms.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Association of genetically-predicted serum mineral levels with depression risk. OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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