111. Childhood trauma and depression are associated with a dysregulated inflammatory profile

Here, we assess the relationship between childhood trauma (CTQ), inflammatory markers using Paxgene blood mRNA and depression (HAM-D scores) in a cross-sectional cohort of age and sex matched depressed patients and healthy controls ( n  = 39 per group). Further to previous findings by Hughes et al., (2012) which showed elevated circulating levels of IL-6, IFN- γ and CRP in the depressed cohort relative to controls, we now see, a significant positive correlation between HAM-D scores and the transcriptional levels of pro-inflammatory markers TLR4 and TREM-1 both of which also positively associate with specific HAM-D clusters – core depression and anxiety. Correlational analysis also revealed a positive association between HAM-D scores and CTQ scores. More severe behaviours are highlighted by the abuse scale items (emotional, physical and sexual abuse) and in keeping with this, a positive relationship was found between total abuse scores and key inflammatory markers IL-1 β , Cox-2 and TLR4. A negative association was evident between total neglect scores (emotional and physical neglect) and IL-4 suggesting those who suffered a greater degree of childhood neglect express lower levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4. Further investigation revealed that emotional abuse was most associated with key inflammatory markers IL-1 β , Cox-2 and TLR4. Here we show childhood adversity is associated with a dysregulated immune profile which maybe a risk factor for depression.