The Correlation Between Depression and Hopelessness Scores and Cytological Features of Exfoliated Buccal Cells in Females

Depression is a mental health disorder, which affects all the communities around the world. One of the major components of depression is hopelessness. There is evidence that depression is accompanied by increased reactive oxygen species, which contribute to DNA damage.
This study aimed at evaluating whether depression and hopelessness are associated with markers of DNA damage, proliferative potential, and cell death.
The sample included 59 healthy females from Fars province, southern Iran. Depression and hopelessness scores were measured using Beck’s depression inventory and Beck’s hopelessness scales, respectively. Smears were taken from the buccal mucosa of participants, and using micronucleus assay, they were analyzed for various cell population and genome damage markers, including cytokinetic defects (binucleated cells), proliferative potential (basal cell frequency), cell death (condensed chromatin, karyorrhectic, pyknotic, and karyolitic cells), and biomarkers of DNA damage (micronuclei and nuclear buds).
None of the micronucleus (MN) assay parameters had an association with depression scores. There was a significant negative correlation between the frequency of basal cells and hopelessness scores (r = -0.323, P = 0.012). Other parameters of MN assay showed no association with hopelessness scores.
As the basal cells are biomarkers of proliferative potential, the results suggest that cellular regeneration is decreased in buccal mucosa of people with high level of hopelessness. However, more studies with larger sample sizes are required to verify this conclusion.