Lower nerve growth factor levels in major depression and suicidal behaviors: effects of adverse childhood experiences and recurrence of illness

Background Major depressive disorder (MDD) and its severe subtype, major dysmood disorder (MDMD), are distinguished by activation of inflammatory and growth factor subnetworks, which are associated with recurrence of illness (ROI) and adverse childhood experiences (ACE). Nerve growth factor (NGF) plays a crucial role in facilitating neuro-immune communications and may regulate the inflammatory response. Methods The present study examined the effects of ACE and ROI on culture supernatant NGF, stem cell factor (SCF), stem cell GF (SCGF), hepatocyte GF (HGF), and macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), in relation to a neurotoxicity (NT) cytokine profile. Results NGF levels are lower in MDD (p=0.003), particularly MDMD (p<0.001), as compared with normal controls. ROI and ACE were significantly and inversely associated with NGF (≤0.003) and the NGF/NT ratio (≤0.001), whereas there are no effects of ACE and ROI on SCF, SCGF, HGF, or M-CSF. Lowered NGF (p=0.003) and the NGF/NT ratio (p<0.001) are highly significantly and inversely associated with the severity of the current depression phenome, conceptualized as a latent vector extracted from the current severity of depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors. We found that one validated and replicable latent vector could be extracted from NGF, ROI, and the depression phenome, which therefore constitutes a novel ROI-NGF-pathway-phenotype. ACE explained 59.5% of the variance in the latter pathway phenotype (p<0.001). Conclusions The imbalance between decreased NGF and increased neurotoxic cytokines during the acute phase of severe depression may contribute to decreased neuroprotection, increased neuro-affective toxicity, and chronic mild inflammation.