Stability of Cellular Immune Parameters over 12 Weeks in Patients with Major Depression or Somatoform Disorder and in Healthy Controls

Abstract

Objective: Cellular immune status in major depression (MD) patients differs from that in somatoform disorder (SFD) patients and healthy controls (HC). It is still questionable whether the patterns of immune parameters remain stable over time. Therefore, we studied lymphocyte and monocyte cell counts and neopterin levels in peripheral blood of MD and SFD patients and HC over 12 weeks and tested for correlations between biochemical and psychometric parameters. Methods: Thirty-nine patients with MD, 27 with SFD, and 51 HC were recruited. Peripheral blood was drawn at four visits, at 4-week intervals. We assessed the total cell count of B lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, T lymphocyte subpopu­lations, and monocytes by flow cytometry, and neopterin serum levels by ELISA. Psychometric parameters were measured with questionnaires. Results: Counts of lymphocytes, monocytes, and neopterin were stable in the SFD and HC groups. In the MD group, total CD3⁺, CD3⁺CD8⁺, NK cells, and CD3⁺CD25⁺ T cells showed inhomogeneous variances in Friedman tests, particularly in females. Neopterin correlated with depressed mood in MD patients, and with body mass index in HC. Conclusions: Cellular immune parameters are stable in HC and SFD. Our results may indicate influences of MD and gender on some cellular immune parameters. This may need to be considered in future immunological studies.

SVM-Based Model Combining Patients’ Reported Outcomes and Lymphocyte Phenotypes of Depression in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

“…The abnormal expression of T cells participated in the development of depression [14]. CD3+CD8+, CD4+ and CD3+CD25+ T-cell subsets were significantly unbalanced in patients with major depression, especially in women [15,16]. The imbalance of Th1/Th2 cells can be alleviated by interventions for depression in SLE patients [17].…”