BackgroundThe burden of depression in the elderly is increasing worldwide with global aging. However, there is still a lack of research on the relationship between depressive symptoms and the progression of renal function. Our aim is to evaluate the longitudinal association between baseline depressive symptoms and the changes in serum cystatin C levels over 10 years' follow-up period. MethodsWe used longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), an existing community based nationally representative aging cohort study which enrolled individuals over age 50 in the USA. Depressive symptoms were determined using an eight-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) at wave 7 (2004) and wave 8 (2006). Persistent depressive symptoms were defined as both CESD scores measured at waves 7 and 8 were >= 3; episodic depressive symptoms were defined as CESD scores >= 3 at wave 7 or wave 8. A linear mixed model was used to evaluate the correlation between baseline depressive symptoms and future changes in cystatin C levels. ResultsThe mean age of the 7,642 participants was 63.8 +/- 10.8 years, and 60.9% were women. Among the participants, 1,240 (16.2%) had episodic depressive symptoms and 778 (10.2%) had persistent depressive symptoms. Compared with participants with no depressive symptoms at both waves, a significant increase in serum cystatin C levels was found among those with persistent depressive symptoms. ConclusionsOur results showed that baseline persistent depressive symptoms were significantly associated with an increased rate of serum cystatin C levels. The level of serum cystatin C should be monitored in the elderly with persistent depressive symptoms.