Abnormal glucose tolerance, white blood cell count, and telomere length in newly diagnosed, antidepressant-naïve patients with depression

Abstract

Chronic mood disorders have been associated with a shortened telomere, a marker of increased mortality rate and ageing, and impaired cellular immunity. However, treatment may confound these relationships. We examined the relationship of glucose tolerance, white blood cell count and telomere length to depression in newly diagnosed, antidepressant-naïve patients. Subjects with major depression (n=15), and matched healthy control subjects (n=70) underwent a two-hour oral glucose tolerance test and evaluation of blood cell count and telomere content. The depression group had significantly higher two-hour glucose concentrations and a lower lymphocyte count than control subjects (respective means [SD] for two-hour glucose were 125.0 mg/dL [67.9] vs 84.6 [25.6] (p<.001); for lymphocyte count 2.1 × 109/L [0.6] vs. 2.5 ×109/L [0.7] p=.028).Telomere content was significantly shortened in the depression group (87.9 [7.6]) compared to control subjects (101.0 [14.3]; p<0.01). Abnormal glucose tolerance, lymphopenia and a shortened telomere are present early in the course of depression independently of the confounding effect of antidepressant treatment, supporting the concept of major depression as an accelerated ageing disease.

Leukocyte Telomere Length and Late-Life Depression

“…Adults with clinically diagnosed major depressive disorder (MDD) [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] have shorter telomeres compared to non-depressed comparisons, displaying between 2 15 and 10 years 12,18 of accelerated aging. However, negative results have also been reported, including the absence of an association with both depressive disorder 19,20 as well as depressive symptoms.…”

Shortened telomere length in bipolar disorder: a comparison of the early and late stages of disease

“…16 Hoen et al 17 found that anxiety disorders were strongly associated with telomere shortening after 2 years of follow-up, while no prospective correlation was observed in patients with major depression. More recently, Garcia-Rizo et al 18 reported significantly decreased telomere length in newly diagnosed, antidepressant-naïve patients with depression compared to controls. Recent evidence from a BD cohort further demonstrated that patients on long-term lithium therapy had longer telomeres (about 10%) than those not responding well to lithium or healthy controls.…”

Antidepressant use and risk of central nervous system metastasis

“…A concern would be determining if these effects on WBC counts were due to antidepressants or depression. A study conducted in antidepressant-naïve patients found WBC count was not affected by a diagnosis of major depression (p=0.18) [307]. These findings coupled with the inflammatory studies suggest the effects on WBC counts are due to the antidepressants and not the underlying depression.…”