Effect of Anger Patterns and Depression on Serum IgA and NK Cell Frequency

There are conflicting findings about relationship between depression and anger with immunological indicators. To investigate the relationship between anger patterns and immune system in depressed patients.
Thirty five patients with major depressive disorder were selected according to DSM-IV criteria. The Hamilton Depression Scale and Spielberger Anger questionnaires were used to determine severity of depression and "anger expression pattern", respectively. The control group without previous history of mental illness was also selected. In patients with moderate depression, serum IgA levels and NK cell percentage were measured.
Mean difference of all types of "anger expression pattern", including; "statetrait anger", "anger expression out", "anger expression in", "anger control out" and "anger control in", in both study and control groups, was statistically significant (p Moderate depressed patients versus control group had higher Spielberger scores in all types of anger expression pattern except anger control-out and anger control-in. We found no evidence supporting the relationship between" anger expression pattern" with IgA levels and NK cell percentage and it seems that depression itself causes reduced NK cells and increased IgA levels.