TMED11 Conference
Shaping Future Healthcare with Clinical Research and Personalised Prescribing
Join us at the historic Guildhall, Derry-Londonderry for the 11th TMED Conference – a leading international event in translational medicine bringing together clinical researchers, academics, industry partners and healthcare innovators from across the UK and Europe.
Poster 23- NLRP3 inflammasome- related proteins are differentially expressed in depression: evidence from UK biobank
Authors: Leah McColgan, Elaine K. Murray, Catriona Kelly, Sophie Coyle, Steven Watterson, Victoria McGilligan
Affiliations: Personalised Medicine Centre, School of Medicine, Ulster University, C-TRIC Building, Altnagelvin Area Hospital, Glenshane Road, Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland, BT47 6SB.
Background/ Introduction: Depression is a common and debilitating mental health disorder, and is increasingly linked to immune dysregulation and neuroinflammation. The NLRP3 inflammasome, a key mediator of inflammatory processes, is suggested to be a key contributor to the pathogenesis of depression. However, large-scale population-based evidence remains limited.
Material & Methods: Proteomic and clinical data from around 55,000 UK Biobank participants were analysed to investigate associations between NLRP3 inflammasome-related proteins and depression. Case-control analyses were conducted, adjusting for age, sex, BMI and antidepressant use. Sex-specific differences, correlations with disease severity scores, and the impact of antidepressant use was also assessed.
Results: Patients with depression exhibited significant dysregulation of inflammasome-related proteins compared to healthy controls, including 15 upregulated proteins (CCL19, CCL20, CCL22, CCL3, CD300LF, CSF3, CXCL10, IL10, IL12β, IL18BP, IL18R1, IL1β, IL6, IRAK1 and IRAK4)[p < 0.05 – 0.001] and 1 downregulated protein (HMOX1)[p < 0.001]. Sex-stratified analyses revealed distinct differences in immune profiles, with only females showing dysregulation of IL18, IL1β and CSF3, and only males showing dysregulation of CXCL10, IL12β and IRAK4. No significant associations were observed between protein levels and disease severity or antidepressant use.
Conclusion: This study provides large-scale evidence of NLRP3 inflammasome-related protein dysregulation in depression, potentially informing biomarker development and more targeted therapies. Further research is required to validate these associations longitudinally and assess whether NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition could improve clinical outcomes.
