Plasma Cholesterol and Depressive Symptoms in Older Men

Suicidal behaviour and lipid levels in unipolar and bipolar depression

“…Such a link between low cholesterol and depression has been demonstrated by Morgan et al (20) in elderly men, as well as between low cholesterol and intensity of depression in the Polish study (12). Recently, Indian investigators found significantly lower levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in depressive patients compared with the healthy control group (21).…”

Hypocholesterolemia during mixed manic episodes

“…First, increased rates of violent death including suicide (Muldoon et al 1990) and the association of depressive symptomatology (Ernst et al 1994, Ketterer et al 1994) have been noted in subjects placed on low cholesterol diets or treated with statin-class medications. Second, higher rates of depression in subjects with hypocholesterolemia (Morgan et al 1993, Rozzini et al 1996, Steegmans et al 2000 and lower cholesterol levels in depressed subjects (Cadeddu et al 1995, Partonen et al 1999) and subjects with affective disorders (Glueck et al 1994) than in controls have been reported. Lower cholesterol levels have also been noted in suicidal subjects (Modai et al 1994, Sullivan et al 1994, Golier et al 1995, Kunugi et al 1997, Partonen et al 1999, Sarchiapone et al 2000 and hypocholesterolemia has also been implicated as a positive risk factor for suicide (Neaton et al 1992, Papassotiropoulos et al 1999, suggesting a possible association of hypocholesterolemia and syndromes characterized by elevated rates of suicide such as depression and mixed mania.…”

Are Cholesterol and Depression Inversely Related? A Meta-analysis of the Association Between Two Cardiac Risk Factors

“…For example, one study [10] reported that older adults with low serum cholesterol were likely to be more depressed (also see [11]). This is consistent with Engelberg's [12] proposal that central serotonin (5-HT) transmission is decreased via the altered microviscosity of plasma membranes caused by lowered blood cholesterol levels (also see [13]).…”