Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb 9;10(2):333.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare10020333.

Lipid Biomarkers in Depression: Does Antidepressant Therapy Have an Impact?

Fidelis Christin Stuchtey  1 , Andrea Block  2   3 , Francis Osei  2 , Pia-Maria Wippert  2   3
Affiliations

Lipid Biomarkers in Depression: Does Antidepressant Therapy Have an Impact?

Fidelis Christin Stuchtey et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Studies have revealed mixed results on how antidepressant drugs affect lipid profiles of patients with major depression disorder (MDD). Even less is known about how patients respond to a switch of antidepressant medication with respect to their metabolic profile. For this, effects of a switch in antidepressants medication on lipid markers were studied in MDD patients. 15 participants (females = 86.67%; males = 13.33%; age: 49.45 ± 7.45 years) with MDD and a prescribed switch in their antidepressant medication were recruited at a psychosomatic rehabilitation clinic. Participants were characterized (with questionnaires and blood samples) at admission to the rehabilitation clinic (baseline, T0) and followed up with a blood sample two weeks (T1) later. HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were determined (T0), and their change analyzed (Wilcoxon test) at follow up (T1). Decrements in HDL (p = 0.041), LDL (p < 0.001), and total cholesterol (p < 0.001) were observed two weeks after a switch in antidepressant medication. Triglycerides showed no difference (p = 0.699). Overall, LDL, HDL, and total cholesterol are affected by a change in antidepressant drugs in patients with MDD. These observations are of clinical relevance for medical practitioners in the planning and management of treatment strategies for MDD patients.

Keywords: HDL; LDL; antidepressants; cholesterol; high density lipoprotein cholesterol; lipids; low density lipoprotein cholesterol; major depressive disorder; triglycerides.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The figure above indicates lipid biomarkers that were found to differ between patients with depressions versus control subjects without depression. Patients with MDD show increased LDL and decreased HDL, increased inflammatory markers and omega 6 fatty acids, where decreased omega 3 fatty acids are in opposition to the healthy control group. Adapted from [12].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graphical presentation between lipid markers in baseline (T0) vs. 2 weeks (T1). * Significant at p = 0.05, ** Significant at p = 0.01.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization Depression. [(accessed on 10 September 2021)];2020 Available online: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/de-tail/depression.
    1. Maske U.E., Buttery A.K., Beesdo-Baum K., Riedel-Heller S., Hapke U., Busch M.A. Prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV-TR major depressive disorder, self-reported diagnosed depression and current depressive symptoms among adults in Germany. J. Affect. Disord. 2016;190:167–177. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.10.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. König H., Rommel A., Thom J., Schmidt C., König H.-H., Brettschneider C., Konnopka A. The excess costs of depression and the influence of sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors: Results from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS) Pharmacoeconomics. 2021;39:667–680. doi: 10.1007/s40273-021-01000-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. McIntyre R.S., Soczynska J.K., Konarski J.Z., Kennedy S.H. The effect of antidepressants on lipid homeostasis: A cardiac safety concern? Expert Opin. Drug Saf. 2006;5:523–537. doi: 10.1517/14740338.5.4.523. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dhar A.K., Barton D.A. Depression and the link with cardiovascular disease. Front. Psychiatry. 2016;7:33. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00033. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources