Correlation Between Anhedonia And Plasma Glial Cell Line-derived Neurotrophic Factor Levels In Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Objective: As one of the core features of Major Depressive Disorder(MDD),anhedonia is often associated with poor prognosis.However,the biological mechanisms related to anhedonia are still unclear.Glial cell line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor(GDNF)plays an important role in the growth,survival and reproduction of neurons.In this study,the plasma GDNF levels were compared between MDD patients with anhedonia,MDD patients without anhedonia and Healthy Controls(HC),and the correlation between the severity of anhedonia and plasma GDNF levels was explored.Methods: A total of 34 MDD patients with anhedonia and 27 MDD patients without anhedonia were recruited from the clinic of the First Hospital of China Medical University.Meanwhile,48 HC subjects were recruited.In all participants,Hamilton Depression Scale-17 items(HAMD-17)、Hamilton Anxiety Scale-14 items(HAMD-14)、and Snaith-Hamilton Hedonic Rating Scale(SHAPS)were used to assess the severity of depression,anxiety and anhedonia.On the same day,venous blood was collected and plasma was separated,and the concentration of GDNF in plasma was measured using multifactor detection technology.SPSS(Statistical Product and Service Solutions)26.0 software was used to analyze the data.The demographic and clinical data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA or chi-square test.One-way ANOVA was used to analyze the plasma GDNF levels among the three groups,and post hoc pairwise comparisons were made.Independent sample t test was used to compare the differences of plasma GDNF levels between the antidepressant treatment group and the untreated group in the MDD group with anhedonia and the MDD group without anhedonia.Partial correlation analysis was performed between plasma GDNF levels and SHAPS score in MDD patients with anhedonia,MDD patients without anhedonia and MDD patients,respectively.Results: MDD patients with anhedonia had significantly lower plasma GDNF levels than MDD patients without anhedonia and HC(P < 0.05),but no difference was found between HC of MDD patients without anhedonia(P> 0.05);The use of antidepressants had no significant effect on plasma GDNF levels in the present study(P>0.05);The plasma GDNF level was negatively correlated with the SHAPS score in MDD patients with anhedonia and MDD patients(r=-0.392,P=0.027;r=-0.267,P=0.041),but there was no significant correlation between plasma GDNF level and SHAPS score in MDD patients without anhedonia(P> 0.05).Conclusions: This study found that the plasma GDNF of MDD patients with anhedonia was lower than that of MDD patients without anhedonia and healthy controls,and found that the severity of anhedonia in MDD patients was related to the plasma GDNF level.