Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio is increased in elderly patients with first episode depression, but not in recurrent depression

• Published in: Psychiatry research 2018-05, Vol.263, p.35-40
• Main Authors: Arabska, Jaśmina, Łucka, Anna, Magierski, Radosław, Sobów, Tomasz, Wysokiński, Adam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomarkers - blood; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression; Depression - blood; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - psychology; Female; Humans; Leukocyte; Leukocyte Count - trends; Lymphocyte Count - trends; Lymphocytes - metabolism; Male; Middle Aged; Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio; Neutrophils - metabolism; NLR; Old age psychiatry; Prognosis; Recurrence; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.02.043

Association between inflammation and depression, especially in elderly patients, leads to conclusions about their shared influence on risk of cardiovascular disease and death. It might be found useful to predict those issues by monitoring inflammatory parameters, such as neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR). The aim of this study was to determine the NLR in elderly patients with unipolar depression compared with non-depressed elderly patients. NLR was measured in 684 Caucasian subjects (depressed: n = 465, non-depressed: n = 219), aged ≥ 60 (depressed: mean age 74.8 ± 7.8 years, non-depressed: mean age: 71.1 ± 5.7 years). There were two subgroups within depressed patients: first episode depression (n = 138, 29.6%) and recurrent depression (n = 328, 70.3%). NLR was calculated as ratio between absolute neutrophil count to absolute lymphocyte count. NLR was significantly higher in unmedicated patients with depression compared with healthy control (2.10 ± 2.13 vs. 2.01 ± 0.75, p = 0.004). It was higher in first episode depression compared with recurrent depression (2.11 ± 1.76 vs 1.64 ± 1.04, p