Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39988721›Full record

ArticleTranslational psychiatry2025

Acylcarnitines metabolism in depression: association with diagnostic status, depression severity and symptom profile in the NESDA cohort.

Silvia Montanari, Rick Jansen, Daniela Schranner, Gabi Kastenmüller, Matthias Arnold, Delfina Janiri, Gabriele Sani, Sudeepa Bhattacharyya, Siamak Mahmoudian Dehkordi, Boadie W Dunlop and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Translational psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Editorial: Recognizing Atypical Depression in Youth: Advancing Precision Diagnosis.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Silvia MontanariDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Rick JansenDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3333-6737
Daniela SchrannerInstitute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
Gabi KastenmüllerInstitute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
Matthias ArnoldInstitute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4666-0923
Delfina JaniriDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Gabriele SaniDepartment of Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9767-8752
Sudeepa BhattacharyyaArkansas Biosciences Institute, Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3493-6029
Siamak Mahmoudian DehkordiDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Boadie W DunlopDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4653-0483
A John RushDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
Brenda W H J PenninxDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7779-9672
Rima Kaddurah-Daouk *Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. rima.kaddurahdaouk@duke.edu.
Yuri Milaneschi *Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. y.milaneschi@amsterdamumc.nl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3697-6617

Funding

Project 4 - Mechanistic studies on the role of the gut microbiome in models for Alzheimer's diseaseU19AG063744 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · PI ROB KNIGHT, Rima F Kaddurah-Daouk · 2019 to 2026
$54.1M
Metabolomic Signatures for Disease Sub-classification and Target Prioritization in AMP-ADU01AG061359 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI KADDURAH-DAOUK, RIMA F, KASTENMULLER, GABI · 2018 to 2022
$10.0M
Metabolic Networks and Pathways Predictive of Sex Differences in AD Risk and Responsiveness to TreatmentRF1AG059093 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI BRINTON, ROBERTA EILEEN, CHANG, RUI · 2018 to 2018
$5.9M
TargetAD: A systems multi-omics approach to drug repositioning in Alzheimer's diseaseR01AG069901 · NIA · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI Matthias Arnold, Jan Krumsiek · 2021 to 2026
$3.7M
Gut Liver Brain Biochemical Axis in Alzheimer's DiseaseRF1AG058942 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI KADDURAH-DAOUK, RIMA F, VAN DUIJN, CORNELIA MARJA · 2018 to 2018
$3.4M
Metabolomic Signatures Predictive of Outcomes to Treatments for Major DepressionR01MH108348 · NIMH · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI DUNLOP, BOADIE W, KADDURAH-DAOUK, RIMA F · 2016 to 2019
$2.7M
Metabolic age to define influences of the lipidome on brain aging in Alzheimer's diseaseR01AG081322 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · PI Matthias Arnold, Rima F Kaddurah-Daouk · 2023 to 2026
$2.6M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG069901NIA NIH HHS R01 AG081322NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG058942NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG059093NIA NIH HHS U01 AG061359NIA NIH HHS U19 AG063744NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH108348U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH108348U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Aging (U.S. National Institute on Aging) RF1AG058942, RF1AG059093, U01AG061359, U19AG063744, R01AG069901, and R01AG081322U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Aging (U.S. National Institute on Aging) U19AG063744,RF1AG058942, RF1AG059093, U01AG061359, and R01AG081322ZonMw (Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development) 10-000-1002
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Acylcarnitines (ACs) are involved in bioenergetics processes that may play a role in the pathophysiology of depression. Previous genomic evidence identified four ACs potentially linked to depression risk. We carried forward these ACs and tested the association of their circulating levels with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) diagnosis, overall depression severity and specific symptom profiles. The sample from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety included participants with current (n = 1035) or remitted (n = 739) MDD and healthy controls (n = 800). Plasma levels of four ACs (short-chain: acetylcarnitine C2 and propionylcarnitine C3; medium-chain: octanoylcarnitine C8 and decanoylcarnitine C10) were measured. Overall depression severity as well as atypical/energy-related (AES), anhedonic and melancholic symptom profiles were derived from the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology. As compared to healthy controls, subjects with current or remitted MDD presented similarly lower mean C2 levels (Cohen's d = 0.2, p ≤ 1e-4). Higher overall depression severity was significantly associated with higher C3 levels (ß = 0.06, SE = 0.02, p = 1.21e-3). No associations were found for C8 and C10. Focusing on symptom profiles, only higher AES scores were linked to lower C2 (ß = -0.05, SE = 0.02, p = 1.85e-2) and higher C3 (ß = 0.08, SE = 0.02, p = 3.41e-5) levels. Results were confirmed in analyses pooling data with an additional internal replication sample from the same subjects measured at 6-year follow-up (totaling 4141 observations). Small alterations in levels of short-chain acylcarnitine levels were related to the presence and severity of depression, especially for symptoms reflecting altered energy homeostasis. Cellular metabolic dysfunctions may represent a key pathway in depression pathophysiology potentially accessible through AC metabolism.

Indexed as

CarnitineMajor Depressive DisorderAcetylcarnitineAdultCase-Control StudiesCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNetherlandsSeverity of Illness IndexAcetylcarnitineacylcarnitineCarnitineoctanoylcarnitinepropionylcarnitine

Identifiers

PMID39988721
PMCPMC11847943

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.