In a recent study published in the journal scientific reportresearchers investigated the relationship between body temperature and depression using self-reports and wearable sensors, examining small fluctuations in body temperature during wakefulness and sleep and reductions in circadian temperature amplitude.
Depression is a significant health problem in the United States and is costly for teens and young adults. Although the use of antidepressants is expanding in Western countries, the effectiveness of existing drug treatments is limited. In order to create innovative treatments, it is important to understand the processes that cause depressive symptoms and recognize those that can be modified. Identifying abnormalities associated with depression may result in biologically homogeneous subgroups that respond better to treatments targeting specific abnormalities.
study: Increased body temperature is associated with depressive symptoms: results from TemPredict study. Image credit: DimaBerlin / Shutterstock
About research
In the current study, researchers investigated the link between body temperature and depression using data from the TemPredict Study, which included more than 20,000 people over a seven-month period. Eligible participants are adults who can speak English and own a mobile phone that can work with wearable sensors.
Researchers found that increases in self-measured body temperature, decreases in the amplitude of distal body temperature during the day, and small differences in distal body temperature during wakefulness and sleep were associated with increased severity of depression. We investigated whether The researchers collected data on self-measured body temperature, minute-by-minute distal body temperature recorded by wearable sensors, and self-reported depressive symptoms. Participants measured their body temperature once a day with a standard thermometer and minute-by-minute distal temperatures recorded using a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor with a wearable sensor.
The team emailed participants a monthly survey that included a Patient-Reported Outcomes Medical Information System (PROMIS) profile tool regarding depressive symptoms experienced in the previous month. They converted her raw PROMIS depression summary scores to T-scores. In the baseline survey, participants self-reported demographic information such as age and gender.
The researchers used linear regression models to construct odds ratios (ORs) to examine the association between average daily self-recorded body temperature and PROMIS T-scores. They calculated E values for sensitivity analysis. The research team calculated the difference between the daily maximum and minimum distal temperatures for all individuals to determine the amplitude of distal body temperature during the day.
result
The average age of study participants who self-reported body temperature was 47 years, and 53% were male. The participant completed his 3.60 out of the 7 available his/her PROMIS depression tests. The temperature samples recorded by the sensors consisted of 21,064 participants, with an average age of 47 years and 56% male. In both unadjusted and adjusted models, researchers found a positive relationship between body temperature and depression T-scores. The linear model showed a higher E value than the effects of age, gender, and body temperature on depression.
Adjusted regression revealed that body temperature accounted for unique variance in PROMIS T-scores, whereas known variance was explained by age and gender. The OR value for mean PROMIS T-score being intermediate to normal range increased significantly for every 0.10°C increase in mean body temperature (OR, 1.0). PROMIS T scores in the moderate and severe range (OR, 1.1) are more likely to be present than within the normal range.
The research team analyzed PROMIS T-scores using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and found ROC curve values of 0.8, 0.7, and 0.6, respectively, which differentiated severe, moderate, and mild depression severity levels. revealed that it has improved. Based on the modified model, Youden’s Index has a sensitivity of 86% for detecting his PROMIS T score in the severe range of depression, but a specificity of only 34%. The unadjusted model performed best, identifying his PROMIS T-score in the intermediate range with a sensitivity of 97% (specificity of 63%).
Awakening distal body temperature was slightly higher than the normal range and varied from mild to moderate, with the most significant change occurring from WNL to severe depressive symptoms. Relevant statistical tests revealed significant differences in distal body temperature during wakefulness, differences in distal body temperature during sleep and wakefulness, and amplitudes of daytime distal body temperature, indicating that participants with severe symptoms and We compared these metrics between participants within normal ranges. Those with severe depressive symptoms had the greatest differences in distal body temperature compared to those with normal-range depressive symptoms.
Overall, the study results showed depressive symptoms associated with increased body temperature upon awakening. Collection of body temperatures measured with thermometers and recorded with wearable sensors supported this association. Distal body temperature during sleep was comparable across different categories of depression and higher than distal body temperature during wakefulness, such that the disparity between sleep and wakefulness decreased as depressive symptom severity increased. Did. Those who directly target the thermoregulatory system have reported antidepressant effects.
Reference magazines:
- Mason, A.E., Kaslu, P., Soltani, S. et al.. Elevated body temperature is associated with depressive symptoms: Results from the TemPredict study. science officer 14, 1884 (2024), DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51567-w, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-51567-w