Cholesterol and Depression

Abstract

Several articles have suggested that low total cholesterol levels are linked to changes in behavior; men with low cholesterol levels are associated with higher rates of suicide within 6 years of measurement,¹and lowering the cholesterol levels therapeutically by diets or drugs may lead to a rise in violent deaths.²One explanation for these somewhat disturbing findings is that a low plasma cholesterol level leads to modifications of brain cholesterol concentration that, in turn, alter central nervous function.³Recent findings are highly contradictory, some speaking for^4-6and some strongly against⁷a relationship between blood lipid levels and psychologic variables. In this situation, a clinical study with a lipidlowering agent may lead further than epidemiologic evidence. We have undertaken a small pilot study quantifying psychologic variables in healthy volunteers during and after treatment with a fibrate. Nine healthy individuals gave informed consent to participate (six men