Association between major depressive disorder and serum cholesterol level

Nowadays, depression is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders and is a prevalent mood disorder. Recently researches about depression etiology, show that in addition to different neurotransmitters and life events, internal stressors such as serum cholesterol, triglyceride and some coagulation factors can have an effect. This study was focused on the relationship between major depressive disorder and serum cholesterol level.

This research is a case control study that was performed in the year 2006. Case group were 62 patients referred to Hashemi Senejani psychiatric medical center and control group were chosen from ENT ward patients of Amir-Kabir hospital. Both groups were paired match for age, gender and education. In order to determine serum cholesterol level, 5cc blood sample was taken of each person from both groups. Data was analyzed using K-S and Mann-Witheny U tests.

The mean age of samples was 35.5±9.9 years. 77% were female, 67.2% married, 25.8%single and 6.5% divorced. Average serum cholesterol level in case group (215.6 ± 47.6 mg/dl) in comparison to control group (183.1 ± 31.2 mg/dl) was significantly higher (p<0.05).

Regarding the results, it seems that serum cholesterol is an internal stressor for depressive disorder so everyone with high serum cholesterol level must be evaluated for depressive disorder.