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Review
. 2023 Apr;20(2):100-108.
doi: 10.36131/cnfioritieditore20230202.

The Wicked Relationship between Depression and Metabolic Syndrome

Donatella Marazziti  1   2 , Alessandro Arone  1 , Stefania Palermo  1 , Eric Annuzzi  1 , Gabriele Cappellato  1 , Ilaria Chiarantini  1 , Luca Del Prete  1 , Liliana Dell'Osso  1
Affiliations
Review

The Wicked Relationship between Depression and Metabolic Syndrome

Donatella Marazziti et al. Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) constitutes a challenge in the field of mental disorders, given its high prevalence in the general population and its impact on the quality of life, while representing a major burden of health worldwide. Currently, much interest in the pathophysiology of MMD ìs also directed towards disentangling the possible biological mechanisms shared with that medical condition known as metabolic syndrome (MeS) that is frequent in the general population and often comorbid with MDD. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to summarize the evidence on the relationships between depression and MeS, and to comment on the common factors and mediators present in these two conditions. For this reason, some of the main databases of scientific literature were accessed, and all the papers fulfilling the goal of this review were selected. The results demonstrated the existence of common pathways between depression and metabolic syndrome involving several mediators, such as inflammation, the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, oxidative stress, platelet functions, coronary heart disease and peripheral hormones, thus requiring strict attention from the scientific community. Indeed, such pathways may be targeted in the near future in order to pave the way to new treatment options for these disorders.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; cytokines; diet; inflammation; major depressive disorder; metabolic syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Mechanisms and mediators involved in major depressive disorder (MDD) and metabolic syndrome (MeS)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Flowchart
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Glucocorticoid resistance
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
The effects of ghrelin and leptin on food intake
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
The Mediterranean Diet
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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