Serum lipids, recent suicide attempt and recent suicide status in patients with major depressive disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with suicide. Although several studies have reported its association with low serum lipid, few studies have investigated relationships between current suicidality and lipid profiles, comparing with other blood measures in MDD patients.


METHODS
The study population consisted of 555 subjects with MDD who were ≥ 18 years old, evaluated by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) with the suicidality module. At the evaluation visit, we measured serum lipid profiles including total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and blood measures such as fasting glucose, total protein, albumin, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, thyroid hormones, red and white blood cells, platelet count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit.


RESULTS
Recent attempters who had attempted suicide within the past month showed significantly lower TG and higher HDL levels than lifetime and never attempters, using Tukey's post-hoc analysis. Recent attempters exhibited lower TG and higher HDL than those with recent suicide ideation and wish to self-harm and those without previous attempt. Linear regression analysis revealed that TG was negatively associated with current suicidality scores (β = -0.187, p = 0.039), whereas VLDL was positively associated with the recent suicide status (β = 0.198, p = 0.032) after controlling for age and sex. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of other serum lipid profiles and blood measures.


CONCLUSIONS
Low serum TG, high HDL and VLDL levels are associated with recent suicide attempt or recent suicide status in patients with MDD.
Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Bipolar Clinic and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
Ji Hyun
JH
Baek
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Eun-Suk
ES
Kang
Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
Maurizio
M
Fava
Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
David
D
Mischoulon
Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; Bipolar Clinic and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
Andrew A
AA
Nierenberg
Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Bum-Hee
BH
Yu
Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Dongsoo
D
Lee
Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences & Technology (SAIHST), South Korea; Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Electronic address: jeonhj@skku.edu.
Hong Jin
HJ
Jeon
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D008055:Lipids; D014280:Triglycerides
LDL; Lipid; Major depressive disorder; Suicide; Triglycerides; VLDL