Orexin a levels of adolescents with major depressive disorder

Objective This study examines orexin A levels in adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods Serum orexin A levels of adolescents with MDD (n = 40) were compared to healthy controls (n = 38) using ANCOVA test. In addition, the relationship between orexin A levels and MDD symptom severity (i.e., child depression inventory) was investigated in the MDD group using correlation and linear regression analyses. Results Orexin A levels of the subjects with MDD were similar to controls while controlling for age, gender, body mass index, and anxiety levels of the subjects. In addition, correlation and regression analyses did not reveal any relationship between orexin A and MDD symptoms. Discussion Adolescent MDD is not associated with orexin A according to the findings of this study. Future studies considering the effect of stress on this relationship would improve our understanding of this issue.