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Annals of General Psychiatry
Published in: Annals of General Psychiatry 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Primary research

The relation between immunologic variables and symptom factors in patients with major depressive disorder

Authors: Yang-Whan Jeon, Sang-Ick Han, E. Jin Park

Published in: Annals of General Psychiatry | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

The associations between depression and immunity were investigated by measuring the scores of Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and peripheral lymphocyte parameters in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods

Forty-nine patients with MDD were recruited and their clinical symptoms are evaluated with 17-item HRSD which was factorized using the confirmatory factor analysis (i.e., depression factor, insomnia factor, and anxiety factor). Basic immunologic variables such as CD4, CD8, and CD56-positive cell numbers were measured by flow cytometry. Natural killer cell activity (NKCA) was also assessed by ELISA method using K-562 cells as target cells. All patients were treated for 4 weeks with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Immunologic and clinical variables were measured both at baseline and after medication.

Results

CD8-positive cell number was increased (p < .05) and CD4/CD8 ratio was decreased (p < .01) after medication. NKCA showed a significant positive correlation with anxiety factor scores of HRSD (p < .05) at baseline. However, except NKCA, there was no correlation between other immunologic measures and symptom factors.

Conclusion

These results suggest that immunologic measure such as NKCA may be an important variable for symptom of MDD such as anxiety during acute depressive state.
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Metadata
Title
The relation between immunologic variables and symptom factors in patients with major depressive disorder
Authors
Yang-Whan Jeon
Sang-Ick Han
E. Jin Park
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Annals of General Psychiatry / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1744-859X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12991-018-0201-7

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