Serum Human Epididymal Protein 4 is Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Authors: Yan Shu
Wei Wang
Journal: International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (2020)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease depressive symptoms; human epididymis protein 4; prognostic value.
Affiliations: Health Management Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330006, People's Republic of China., Department of Respiratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, People's Republic of China.

Abstract:  Background: Previous studies have suggested that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a higher incidence of depression and an increased risk of developing various depression-related complications. We aimed to elucidate the association between the serum human epididymal protein 4 (HE4) level and depressive symptoms in patients with COPD. Methods: The data on 219 participants with COPD from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) were analyzed for the association between serum HE4 levels and depressive symptoms, accounting for relevant confounding factors. All the COPD participants were prospectively followed up for a median period of 48 months. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate the predictive value of serum HE4 for predicting depression events in these COPD patients. Results: Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that serum HE4 was independently associated with the depression score after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, current smoking status, current drinking status, admission systolic and diastolic BP, CVD history and laboratory measurements in patients with COPD at baseline (SŒ≤= 0.149; 95% CI, 0.069-0.201; P&lt;0.001). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that serum HE4 (HR=2.216, 95% CI 1.691-5.109, P&lt;0.001) was an independent prognostic factor for depression events in these COPD patients. Conclusion: Our results showed that serum HE4 is significantly and independently associated with depression events. Serum HE4 may enable the early recognition of depressive symptoms among COPD patients. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 Copy pasted from https: doi.org 10.2147 COPD.S329560 :  The Editor-in-chief and Publisher of International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised to us by the The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) investigation team. TILDA did not measure the biomarker human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) or disaggregate data on lung disease sufficiently to identify COPD as reported in the article. Thus, the observations and findings reported in the study were not supported by the TILDA dataset. Despite several attempts, the authors could not be contacted for an explanation and the decision was made to retract the article. Our decision-making was informed by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retraction. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as u201cRetractedu201d. Published 21 July 2021, Volume 2021:16 Pages 2163u20142164. See also https: retractionwatch.com 2021 07 26 pro-tip-when-claiming-to-use-a-dataset-make-sure-it-collects-what-you-say-it-does ,