Evaluation of plasma lipids and lipoproteins in nigerians suffering from depressive illness

Abstract

There are conflicting reports on the role of plasma lipids in depressive illness. Very little is known about the lipid and lipoprotein status in Nigerian adults suffering from depression. One hundred subjects consisting of sixty (60) depressed patients with mean age (40.3±12.3 yrs) and forty (40) apparently healthy controls (40.1±10.1 yrs) were selected for the study. All subjects were free from medication at least one month prior to the start of the experiment. The anthropometric indices were also determined. There was a significant increase in plasma triglyceride concentration in depressed subjects when compared to control values (p<0.01). However, the plasma total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and body mass index (BMI) did not significantly differ from control values. The mean plasma triglyceride was significantly increased in female patients in comparison to corresponding female controls. Plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels did not demonstrate any definite pattern with increasing level of depression in patients. In conclusion, plasma lipid levels could play a significant role in depressive illness in Nigerians (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 10: 133 - 138