Biomarcadores lipídicos: existe uma relação com a depressão?

Abstract

Major depression (MD) is an increasingly prevalent disorder worldwide, though its pathophysiology is still not fully understood. A better understanding of the neurobiology of MD becomes the key to improve treatments, screening and diagnosis of this disorder. In this scenario, plasma lipids emerge as promising biomarkers. However, the relationship between them and MD severity is still poorly understood, especially when considering body mass index (BMI) as a confounder in this relationship. In this context, the present study investigated the lipid profile characterization in 122 patients with unipolar depression, correlating it with the severity of DM and the BMI. It was noticed that patients with severe MD had higher concentrations of triglycerides when compared to patients with mild-moderate depression, controlled by BMI. For HDL, we observed that the higher the depressive symptoms, the lower the lipid concentrations. For LDL, LDL/HDL and total cholesterol, no significant results were found. Among the lipids analyzed, only the triglycerides of severe MD were above the population reference values. The reduction of HDL, an essential lipid for the synthesis of regulatory molecules, and the increase of triglycerides, inflammatory molecules, suggest a quality loss of the lipid profile throughout the severity of MD, which consequently may be related to physiological dysfunctions and emotional changes in this disorder. It is noteworthy that few past studies have investigated the relationship between MD severity and plasma lipid biomarkers, mainly using BMI as a confounder. Thus, further studies are needed to comprehend the role of these biomarkers in the pathophysiology of depression.