Prospective plasma lipid profiling in individuals with and without depression

Dietmar Enko,Wolfgang J Schnedl,Gernot Kriegshäuser,Andreas Meinitzer,Wolfgang Brandmayr,Gabriele Halwachs-Baumann

doi:10.1186/s12944-018-0796-3

Abstract

BackgroundSo far, studies on possible association of plasma lipid levels and depressive disorder are contradictory. This prospective work aimed at assessing a plasma lipid profile in individuals with major depression and healthy controls.MethodsIn total, 94 patients with major depression and 152 healthy controls were included in this prospective study. After an overnight fasting state of 12 h they underwent blood drawing for triglyzerides (TG), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)- and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol measurements. All participants were evaluated in a clinical interview and filled out the self-rating Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) scale to identify depressive symptomatology.ResultsNinety-four patients with major depression showed significantly higher median (interquartile range) plasma TG levels (108.0 [75.8–154.1] vs. 84.0 [63.0–132.2] mg/dL, P = 0.014) and significantly lower HDL-cholesterol levels (55.0 [46.9–123.0] vs. 61.5 [47.4–72.6] mg/dL, P = 0.049) compared to 152 individuals without depression, respectively. Total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were observed slightly higher in patients with major depression. Significant positive correlation was found between TG, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations and the BDI-II score (p = 0.027, 0.048 and 0.018), and in tendency negative correlation between HDL-cholesterol levels and the BDI-II score (P = 0.091), respectively.ConclusionsDepressive individuals were found with adverse plasma lipid patterns of higher TG and lower HDL-cholesterol levels compared to healthy controls. On this basis, the authors would suggest the implementation of routine lipid measurements in order to stratify these patients by their cardiovascular risk.

Highlights

Studies on possible association of plasma lipid levels and depressive disorder are contradictory
This study aimed at investigating possible alterations of TG, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)- and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol plasma levels in a large sample of well-characterized patients including men and women over a broad age range sub-grouped by the presence or absence of major depression
HDL-cholesterol was significantly lowered (55.0 [46.9–123.0] mg/dL) in subjects with major depression compared to the healthy control group (61.5 [47.4– 72.6] mg/dL) (P = 0.049)

Summary

Introduction

Studies on possible association of plasma lipid levels and depressive disorder are contradictory. This prospective work aimed at assessing a plasma lipid profile in individuals with major depression and healthy controls. Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)- and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG) are used as basic lipid parameters to identify individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease. Findings regarding a possible link between depression and blood lipid levels are contradictory. A number of previous studies have found an association between lower total cholesterol and depression [4,5,6,7].

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