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The following is a summary of “Association between the serum alpha-1-acid glycoprotein concentrations and depression in US adult women: a cross-sectional study,” published in the May 2025 issue of BMC Psychiatry by Zhong et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to analyze whether alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) levels were associated with depression.  

They investigated National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2021 to 2023. Depressive symptoms were calculated by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), with a score ≥ 10 indicating clinically relevant depression. Weighted multivariate logistic regression was applied to evaluate the relationship between AGP levels and the presence of depression. Weighted linear regression modeled continuous PHQ-9 scores. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were utilized to explore potential nonlinear relationships between AGP and depression. Comprehensive subgroup analyses with interaction tests and multiple sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the results.  

The results showed that serum AGP concentrations had a significant positive association in U.S. adult women with depression, exhibiting a linear dose–response relationship. In the fully adjusted model, each ln-unit increase in AGP concentrations was associated with a 1.13-fold higher odds ratio of depression (OR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.26–3.64) and a 1.47-point elevation in PHQ-9 values (β: 1.47, 95% CI: 0.37–2.56). Participants in the highest AGP quartile had a 1.72-fold increased odds ratio of depression (OR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.03–2.87) and a 1.32-point higher PHQ-9 score (β: 1.32, 95% CI: 0.31–2.34) compared to the lowest quartile. This positive association remained consistent across multiple subgroup analyses.  

Investigators concluded that serum AGP concentrations showed a significant positive linear association in U.S. adult women with depressive symptoms. 

Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-025-06934-w