Depression and Accelerated Aging: The Eveningness Chronotype and Low Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Are Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Older Subjects

Overview

Journal Nutrients

Date 2025 Jan 11

PMID 39796538

Authors

Jose V Sorli

Edurne de la Camara

Rebeca Fernandez-Carrion

Eva M Asensio

Olga Portoles

Carolina Ortega-Azorin

Alejandro Perez-Fidalgo

Laura V Villamil

Montserrat Fito

Rocio Barragan

Oscar Coltell

Dolores Corella

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background And Objectives: Depression often results in premature aging, which increases the risk of other chronic diseases, but very few studies have analyzed the association between epigenetic biomarkers of aging and depressive symptoms. Similarly, limited research has examined the joint effects of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) and chronotype on depressive symptoms, accounting for sex differences. Therefore, these are the objectives of our investigation in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk.

Methods: We analyzed 465 older subjects (aged 55-75) with metabolic syndrome and assessed depressive symptoms by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). MedDiet adherence was measured with the 17-item MedDiet score, and chronotype with the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). Blood DNA methylation was analyzed, and epigenomic biomarkers of age acceleration were determined. We focused on the Dunedin Pace of Aging Computed from the Epigenome (DunedinPACE). We fitted multivariable models with interaction terms.

Results: Prevalence of depression was statistically higher in women ( < 0.001). MedDiet adherence was strongly and inversely associated with depressive symptoms in the whole population ( < 0.01), while the MEQ score was inversely associated ( < 0.05). In the joint analysis, both MedDiet adherence and chronotype remained statistically associated with the BDI-II score ( < 0.05), showing additive effects. No interaction effects were observed. In women, a higher score in depressive symptoms was significantly associated with faster age acceleration (measured with the DunedinPACE biomarker). This association remained significant even after adjustment for MedDiet adherence and chronotype.

Conclusions: In older subjects with metabolic syndrome, the eveningness chronotype was associated with greater depressive symptoms, but a higher adherence to the MedDiet could potentially counteract the chronotype risk with additive effects. Women showed stronger associations, and importantly, we reported for the first time in this population that depressive symptoms were associated with accelerated aging.

References

Rong J, Cheng P, Li D, Wang X, Zhao D . Global, regional, and national temporal trends in prevalence for depressive disorders in older adults, 1990-2019: An age-period-cohort analysis based on the global burden of disease study 2019. Ageing Res Rev. 2024; 100:102443. DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2024.102443. View

Arnau R, Meagher M, Norris M, Bramson R . Psychometric evaluation of the Beck Depression Inventory-II with primary care medical patients. Health Psychol. 2001; 20(2):112-9. DOI: 10.1037//0278-6133.20.2.112. View

Lopresti A, Hood S, Drummond P . A review of lifestyle factors that contribute to important pathways associated with major depression: diet, sleep and exercise. J Affect Disord. 2013; 148(1):12-27. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.014. View

Muller M, Haag A . The concept of chronotypes and its clinical importance for depressive disorders. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2017; 53(3):224-240. DOI: 10.1177/0091217417749787. View

Adams M, Thorp J, Jermy B, Kwong A, Koiv K, Grotzinger A . Genome-wide meta-analysis of ascertainment and symptom structures of major depression in case-enriched and community cohorts. Psychol Med. 2024; 54(12):3459-3468. PMC: 11496230. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291724001880. View

Perret L, Geoffroy M, Barr E, Parnet F, Provencal N, Boivin M . Associations between epigenetic aging and childhood peer victimization, depression, and suicidal ideation in adolescence and adulthood: A study of two population-based samples. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023; 10:1051556. PMC: 9879289. DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.1051556. View

Shaikh M, Doshi G . Epigenetic aging in major depressive disorder: Clocks, mechanisms and therapeutic perspectives. Eur J Pharmacol. 2024; 978:176757. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2024.176757. View

Allcock L, Mantzioris E, Villani A . Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet Is Inversely Associated with Anxiety and Stress but Not Depression: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Community-Dwelling Older Australians. Nutrients. 2024; 16(3). PMC: 10857277. DOI: 10.3390/nu16030366. View

. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet. 2015; 386(9995):743-800. PMC: 4561509. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60692-4. View

10.

Si J, Ma Y, Yu C, Sun D, Pang Y, Pei P . DNA Methylation Age Mediates Effect of Metabolic Profile on Cardiovascular and General Aging. Circ Res. 2024; 135(9):954-966. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.325066. View

11.

Horvath S, Raj K . DNA methylation-based biomarkers and the epigenetic clock theory of ageing. Nat Rev Genet. 2018; 19(6):371-384. DOI: 10.1038/s41576-018-0004-3. View

12.

Bizzozero-Peroni B, Martinez-Vizcaino V, Fernandez-Rodriguez R, Jimenez-Lopez E, Nunez de Arenas-Arroyo S, Saz-Lara A . The impact of the Mediterranean diet on alleviating depressive symptoms in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutr Rev. 2024; 83(1):29-39. DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuad176. View

13.

Apostolakopoulou X, Petinaki E, Kapsoritakis A, Bonotis K . A Narrative Review of the Association Between Healthy Dietary Patterns and Depression. Cureus. 2024; 16(5):e60920. PMC: 11193411. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.60920. View

14.

Nicolaou M, Colpo M, Vermeulen E, Elstgeest L, Cabout M, Gibson-Smith D . Association of dietary patterns with depressive symptoms: a harmonised meta-analysis of observational studies. Psychol Med. 2019; 50(11):1872-1883. PMC: 7477372. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291719001958. View

15.

Cano-Ibanez N, Serra-Majem L, Martin-Pelaez S, Martinez-Gonzalez M, Salas-Salvado J, Corella D . Dietary diversity and depression: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in Spanish adult population with metabolic syndrome. Findings from PREDIMED-Plus trial. Public Health Nutr. 2022; 26(3):598-610. PMC: 9989703. DOI: 10.1017/S1368980022001525. View

16.

Baenas I, Camacho-Barcia L, Granero R, Razquin C, Corella D, Gomez-Martinez C . Association between type 2 diabetes and depressive symptoms after a 1-year follow-up in an older adult Mediterranean population. J Endocrinol Invest. 2024; 47(6):1405-1418. PMC: 11142971. DOI: 10.1007/s40618-023-02278-y. View

17.

Ohrnberger J, Fichera E, Sutton M . The relationship between physical and mental health: A mediation analysis. Soc Sci Med. 2017; 195:42-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.008. View

18.

Shafiei F, Salari-Moghaddam A, Larijani B, Esmaillzadeh A . Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and risk of depression: a systematic review and updated meta-analysis of observational studies. Nutr Rev. 2019; 77(4):230-239. DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuy070. View

19.

Selvi Y, Aydin A, Boysan M, Atli A, Agargun M, Besiroglu L . Associations between chronotype, sleep quality, suicidality, and depressive symptoms in patients with major depression and healthy controls. Chronobiol Int. 2010; 27(9-10):1813-28. DOI: 10.3109/07420528.2010.516380. View

20.

Ferrucci L, Gonzalez-Freire M, Fabbri E, Simonsick E, Tanaka T, Moore Z . Measuring biological aging in humans: A quest. Aging Cell. 2019; 19(2):e13080. PMC: 6996955. DOI: 10.1111/acel.13080. View