title: Low serum HDL-cholesterol levels are associated with long symptom duration in patients with major depressive disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the association between depression and the serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is modified by symptom duration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Depressed patients (n = 88) and an age- and sex-matched group of healthy general population controls (n = 88) underwent a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), and depressed participants reported the duration of their symptoms. The serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG) and non-HDL, and the ratios of LDL-C/HDL and TC/HDL-C were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Major depressive disorder (MDD) subjects with a long symptom duration (>or=3 years) had lower levels of HDL-C compared with healthy controls or MDD subjects with a symptom duration <3 years. The likelihood for long symptom duration doubled for each 0.5-mmol/L decrease in HDL-C levels in regression models adjusted for age, gender, marital status, overweight, symptom severity, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical exercise, medication use, and non-HDL-C (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that a low serum HDL-C level, a risk factor for coronary heart disease, is specifically associated with long-term depressive symptomatology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, PO Box 1777, FIN-70210 Kuopio, Finland. soili.lehto@kuh.fi
authors.forename: Soili M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lehto
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Niskanen
authors.forename: Tommi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tolmunen
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hintikka
authors.forename: Heimo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Viinamäki
authors.forename: Tuula
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heiskanen
authors.forename: Kirsi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Honkalampi
authors.forename: Marja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kokkonen
authors.forename: Heli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koivumaa-Honkanen
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol