Citation

Messaoud A, Mensi R, Mrad A, Mhalla A, Azizi I, Amemou B, Trabelsi I, Grissa MH, Salem NH, Chadly A, Douki W, Najjar MF, Gaha L. Ann. Gen. Psychiatry 2017; 16(1).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s12991_017_0144_4

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have a high risk of suicide. Many pathophysiological factors involved in MDD and suicide such us a low cholesterol levels have been associated with MDD and increased vulnerability to suicide. In this study, we investigate the relation between lipid parameters and suicide risk in patients with MDD.

METHODS: Plasma levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and high_density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL_c) and low_density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL_c) were determined in 160 patients meeting the DSM_IV_TR criteria for MDD (110 patients without suicidal behavior and 52 suicidal attempters) and 151 healthy controls.

RESULTS: A significant decrease in plasma cholesterol levels was observed in the group of suicidal depressive patients compared to those without suicidal behavior (p < 0.001). For the other lipid levels (triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol), there were no significant differences between suicidal and non_suicidal patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a significant decrease in plasma cholesterol levels in suicidal patients. This result support the hypothesis of the association of low plasma cholesterol level and suicidal behavior in patients with major depressive disorder. © 2017 The Author(s).

Language: en

Keywords

Biological marker; Cholesterol; Depression; Suicide