The inflammatory biomarkers: Are they correlated with severity of depression

Abstract

Background: Depression is one of the most common disorders. It has 5% prevalence worldwide and 2.8% in India. One of the etiological hypotheses for depression is inflammatory mechanism. Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), cortisol, and vitamin D are the marker of systemic inflammation. This study assessed the association and correlation between Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio, cortisol, and vitamin D with depression and its severity.Aim: To see the association between Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio,cortisol, Vitamin D with depression and their correlation with the severity of Depression.Methodology: This study included 120 patients with depression and 120 healthy controls. Severity of depression was assessed by Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). N/L ratio, cortisol, and vitamin D were measured in both groups. Comparison of socio-demographic profile by independent T-test and Pearson correlation was applied to see correlation between variables. ANOVA test was applied to compare both the groups in terms of biomarkers.Results: N/L ratio, cortisol, and vitamin D were significantly deranged in cases compared to controls. A positive correlation was observed between severity of depression and N/L ratio and cortisol and an inverse correlation with vitamin D.
Conclusion: There is association between N/L ratio, serum cortisol and vitamin D with depression and it also has correlation with severity of depression.