To investigate the mediating effect of blood inflammatory markers on the relationship
between obesity and depression in individuals with ischemic stroke. Methods: A total of 317 patients with
ischemic stroke were assessed using the General Information Survey method and the Hamilton Depression Scale
Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis were performed using SPSS 25.0 and statistical
software R package 4.2.2. The significance of the mediation effect was tested using the percentile Bootstrap
method. Results: After adjusted for age, gender, education levels, smoking status, alcohol consumption,
hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, use of antidepressants, use of anti-inflammatory
drugs, TOAST classification, NIHSS score, obesity and higher body mass index were found to be positively
correlated with increased white blood cell count (WBC) and lymphocyte count (LYM) (WBC: β=0.76, P=0.044;
β =0.06, P=0.002; LYM: β =0.37, P=0.008; β =0.03, P<0.001). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation
between obesity and depressive symptoms (WBC: OR=3.47, P=0.017; LYM: OR=1.10, P=0.001). After including
the mediating variable of blood inflammatory markers, the direct effect of obesity on depressive symptoms
remained statistically significant. Additionally, when controlling for obesity indicators, a positive correlation
between blood inflammatory markers and depressive symptoms was observed (WBC: OR=1.23, P=0.019; LYM:
OR=1.62, P=0.027; NAR: OR=3.36, P=0.034). Analysis of the mediating effect indicated that the association
between body mass index and depression was partially mediated by WBC and LYM, with the proportion of
mediating effect being 9.77% and 13.95%, respectively. Conclusion: Blood inflammatory markers such as WBC
and LYM exhibit a partial mediating effect in the relationship between obesity and depression. |