ArticleZhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences2025
[Gender differences in acylcarnitine metabolism among patients with depression disorder].
Article in Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Recent advances in the bioanalysis of acylcarnitines: Methodologies, challenges, and clinical perspectives.Pharmaceutical science advances · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesDepression is a complex mental disorder whose disease burden has become a major global public health issue. Sex is an important factor influencing susceptibility to depression, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Previous studies have demonstrated a significant association between depression and acylcarnitine metabolism; however, systematic comparisons of acylcarnitine metabolic profiles between male and female patients with depression remain limited. This study aims to investigate sex differences in plasma acylcarnitine metabolic characteristics in first-episode, drug-naïve patients with depression, analyze the relationships between specific acylcarnitines and depression susceptibility and severity in different sexes, and explore the potential biological mechanisms underlying sex differences in depression from a metabolomics perspective.
methodsPlasma samples from first-episode, drug-naïve patients with depression and healthy controls collected in a clinical trial conducted between 2017 and 2020 were analyzed for carnitine levels. A total of 100 patients with first-episode, drug-naïve depression and 50 healthy controls were included. A two-step analytical strategy combining qualitative identification using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF MS) and targeted quantification using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was applied to systematically detect plasma acylcarnitine metabolic profiles. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) or the Scheirer-Ray-Hare test was used to examine the effects of depression diagnosis and sex differences on acylcarnitine levels. Multivariate linear regression analysis was further conducted to determine the associations between acylcarnitines, sex, depression susceptibility, and severity.
resultsA total of 33 acylcarnitines and free carnitine were detected in plasma. After preliminary analysis and screening, 8 acylcarnitines showed significant sex differences. Further multivariate linear regression analysis incorporating baseline characteristics revealed that acetylcarnitine C2:0 (
conclusionsThis study demonstrated significant sex differences in acylcarnitine metabolism in patients with first-episode depression. Among them, C2:0, C5:0, and C11:1 were key metabolites independently regulated by sex. C4:0, C11:1, C12:1-OH, and C13:1 were closely associated with depression susceptibility and anxiety severity. These findings suggest that dysregulation of mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation pathways may represent an important biological basis for sex differences in depression and provide new directions for precision classification and sex-specific diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for depression.
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