Stress, inflammation, and mood: A role for leptin?, 2021, Hodgin

Via Marc Fluks

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham
Date: 2021
URL:
https://www.proquest.com/openview/f1fd513a062623d5080d1c28384cec2c/1

Stress, inflammation, and mood: A role for leptin ?
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Kathleen Hodgin
- Medical Clinical Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham,
USA. Email: kathleenhodgin@uabmc.edu


Abstract

Prior research has suggested a possible role for the proinflammatory
adipokine leptin in depression. Leptin has also been associated with
stress, a known predictor of depression. The purpose of this project was
to investigate associations between stress, leptin, and depressed mood.
We used data from a larger observational study that collected daily
levels of plasma leptin and self-reported stress and depressed mood from
55 women over 25 days. Women with and without chronic fatigue syndrome
(CFS) were included.We hypothesized the following: increased stress
would be associated with both worsened mood and higher leptin, and that
leptin would be positively associated with depressed mood. Vitamin D was
also explored as a potential moderating factor. Linear mixed models were
used to analyze associations between daily stress, leptin, and mood at a
1-day time lag. Results suggested an association between stress and
next-day leptin, dependent on vitamin D level (p =.018). Leptin also
varied by patient group depending on vitamin D (p =.018), with highest
leptin observed among women with CFS and lower vitamin D (<20 ng/mL).
Overall, findings support further investigation of vitamin D in relation
to stress and leptin; leptin, however, does not appear to play a
substantial role in depressed mood.

Keywords: leptin, mood, stress, chronic fatigue syndrome, longitudinal

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(c) 2021 University of Alabama at Birmingham

 

This is... confused, to say the least.

 

they just assume that stress has a causal link to depression if that was true the whole human race has been depressed forever. it is about time they actually got to the physical cause of severe depressive illnesses another field of study that has been held back by the bullshit brigades and their meaningless assumptions.

 

It’s a Master’s thesis, under Jared Younger.

 

They do, but then find nothing to support that supposition. And say so.

It does read as confused but mostly because they disproved their hypothesis and found instead that the correlation was better with something they only included as a ‘potential moderating factor’.

if they were writing an article, I’d suggest they simply remove all reference to depressed mood, as it’s a distraction. But, as it was part of their initial hypothesis, the (null) results need to be included.

If this was written by a full-fledged researcher I’d pile on happily but I make more allowances for a master’s thesis.

ETA I have only read the abstract and jotted a few thoughts. Happy to be corrected if I’m misinterpreting.
Very pleased to see a null result published. It’s essential for science that we publish not just what we expected and assumed but also when our results lead us elsewhere.