Negative perception of socioeconomic status with depressive mood down-regulates expression of PPBP and SLC1A7 genes in peripheral blood leukocytes

Abstract

Inequality in socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with an increased risk for the development of mental health problems. Here, we examined the association between socioeconomic status (SSS) and psychological distress, and measured gene expression signatures in peripheral blood leukocytes responsible for this association, in 129 healthy adults (27 males and 102 females, aged 44.0 ± 13.0 years) working in a private hospital in Japan. Depressive mood was assessed by Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). A multiple regression analysis adjusted for gender and age showed that subjective SSS was independently and negatively associated with SDS score. We next focused on 9 subjects who exhibited low SSS scores and 11 subjects with high SSS scores. Microarray analysis revealed that levels of 522 mRNAs were differentially expressed in periheral leukocytes between low and high-SSS groups. The differentially expressed genes were preferentially involved in cellular movement or inflammatory responses. Among them, mRNA levels of pro-platelet basic protein (PPBP) and solute carrier family 1 (glutamine transporter), member 7 (SLC1A7) were negatively correlated with SSS scores. Our results re-confirmed the association between negative perception of SES and depressive mood in healthy adults, and suggest a possible involvement of PPBP and SLC1A7 in the association.

Keywords

• subjective socioeconomic status
• depressive mood
• peripheral blood leukocytes
• gene expression
• ppbp
• slc1a7