Exposure to acrylamide and increased risk of depression mediated by inflammation, oxidative stress, and alkaline phosphatase: Evidence from a nationally representative population-based study

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders 2024-12, Vol.367, p.434-441
• Main Authors: Wan, Shuhui, Yu, Linling, Yang, Yueru, Liu, Wei, Shi, Da, Cui, Xiuqing, Song, Jiahao, Zhang, Yongfang, Liang, Ruyi, Chen, Weihong, Wang, Bin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acrylamide; Biomarker; Depression; Environmental exposure; Epidemiologic study; Mechanism
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.217

The health risk associated with acrylamide exposure has emerged as a significant issue of public health, attracting global attention. However, epidemiologic evidence on whether and how daily acrylamide exposure increases depression risk of the general population is unclear. The study included 3991 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The urinary metabolites of acrylamide (N-Acetyl-S-(2-carbamoylethyl)-L-cysteine [AAMA] and N-Acetyl-S-(2-carbamoyl-2-hydroxyethyl)-L-cysteine [GAMA]) identified as reliable indicators of acrylamide exposure were examined to determine their relationships with depressive symptoms that were evaluated using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. Besides, the measurements of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and biomarkers of inflammation (white blood cell [WBC] count) and anti-oxidative stress (albumin [ALB]) were conducted to investigate their mediation roles in above relationships. AAMA, GAMA, and ΣUAAM (AAMA+GAMA) were linearly associated with increased risk of depressive symptoms. Each 2.7-fold increase in AAMA, GAMA, or ΣUAAM was associated with a 30 % (odds ratio: 1.30; 95 % confidence interval: 1.09, 1.55), 47 % (1.47; 1.16, 1.87), or 36 % (1.36; 1.13, 1.63) increment in risk of depressive symptoms, respectively. Increased WBC count (mediated proportion: 4.48–8.00 %), decreased ALB (4.88–7.78 %), and increased ALP (4.93–5.23 %) significantly mediated the associations between acrylamide metabolites and depressive symptoms. Acrylamide exposure of the general adult population was related to increased risk of depressive symptoms, which was mediated in part by inflammation, oxidative stress, and increased ALP. Our findings provided pivotal epidemiologic evidence for depression risk increment from exposure to acrylamide. [Display omitted] •Acrylamide (AA) exposure was related to increased risk of depressive symptoms (DPS).•Inflammation and oxidative stress partly mediated AA-related DPS.•Elevated alkaline phosphatase implicated in AA-DPS relationship.•Evidence on the relation and mechanism between AA exposure and DPS was clarified.