Citalopram improves metabolic risk factors among high hostile adults: Results of a placebo-controlled intervention

Abstract

Hostility is associated with a number of metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including waist-hip ratio, glucose, and triglycerides. Along with hostility, many of these measures have also been shown to be associated with reduced central serotonergic function. We have previously reported that a citalopram intervention was successful in reducing hostility by self-report assessment (Kamarck et al., 2009). Here we examine the effects of this serotonergic intervention on metabolic risk factors in the same sample. 159 healthy adults with elevated hostility scores were randomized to citalopram or placebo for a 2-month period. Citalopram favorably changed metabolic risk factors, including waist circumference (p=.003), glucose (p=.02), HDL cholesterol (p=.04), triglycerides (p=.03), insulin sensitivity (p=.045) and diastolic blood pressure by automated assessment (p=.0021). All of these metabolic changes were significantly mediated by treatment-related changes in body mass index (in most cases, p<.01). In addition, the changes in blood glucose were significantly mediated by treatment-related changes in hostility (p<.05). Mechanisms accounting for these associations remain to be explored.