Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41547857›Full record

ArticleAnnals of general psychiatry2026

The mediating role of insulin resistance in depression driving phenotypic age acceleration.

Li Zhang, QianKun Yang, Jie Yu, Yue Hu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of general psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Li Zhang *Department of Hematology and Oncology of Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University' National Clinical Research Center for Children and Adolescents' Health and Diseases' Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders' Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Metabolism and Inflammatory Diseases, No.136 of Zhongshan Second road' YuZhong district', Chongqing, 400014, China.
QianKun Yang *Department of Orthopedics, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Jie YuDepartment of Hematology and Oncology of Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University' National Clinical Research Center for Children and Adolescents' Health and Diseases' Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders' Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Metabolism and Inflammatory Diseases, No.136 of Zhongshan Second road' YuZhong district', Chongqing, 400014, China.
Yue HuDepartment of Neurology of Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Children and Adolescents' Health and Diseases' Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders' Chongqing key laboratory of child neurodevelopment and cognitive disorders, No.136 of Zhongshan Second Road' YuZhong District, Chongqing, 400014, China. huyue915@163.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDepression, characterized by significant psychological and physiological alterations, has been proved to tightly associate with insulin resistance (IR) and hallmarks of biological aging. Phenotypic Age Acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel), which quantifies the discrepancy between biological and chronological age, serves as a robust indicator of accelerated aging. However, the interplay between depression, IR, and accelerated aging remains unclear. This study aims to explore the relationship between depression and PhenoAgeAccel, and the potential mediating role of IR in this association.

methodsA total of 4,555 adults participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database with complete data on depression, PhenoAgeAccel, and other essential covariates were included in this study. Depression severity was assessed by the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), with a PHQ-9 score ≥ 10 used to define depression. Four indicators, including triglyceride-glucose index (TyG), TyG-body mass index (TyG-BMI), TyG-waist height ratio (TyG-WHTR), and metabolic score for insulin resistance (METS-IR), were used to assess IR. Weighted multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to identify the association of depression/PHQ-9 score with PhenoAgeAccel. Moreover, subgroup analyses, interaction tests, and adjusted restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses were employed to explore the robustness, stability, and potential nonlinearity of the associations between PHQ-9/depression and PhenoAgeAccel. Additionally, mediation analysis was conducted to investigate the mediating role of IR biomarkers in the association between PHQ-9 score and PhenoAgeAccel.

resultsIn the fully-adjusted model, being depressive and one-unit increment in PHQ-9 score were associated with a 1.93-year (95% CI: 0.95-2.92) and 0.14-year (95% CI: 0.07-0.21) increase in PhenoAgeAccel, respectively. A positive linear dose-response relationship between PHQ-9 score and PhenoAgeAccel was identified via RCS analysis (P for overall = 0.001, P

conclusionsDepression was associated with accelerated PhenoAgeAccel, with insulin resistance acting as a partial mediator. In depression management, interventions targeting metabolic issues like insulin resistance should also be considered to mitigate depression-associated aging.

Indexed as

DepressionDepression-associated agingInsulin resistancePhenoAgeAccelPHQ-9

Identifiers

PMID41547857
PMCPMC12895949

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.