Psychiatry Research
Volume 121, Issue 3 , Pages 253-261 , 1 January 2004

No evidence for an association between serum cholesterol and the course of depression and suicidality

  • Eberhard A. Deisenhammer

      Affiliations

    • Department of General Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Hospital, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +43-512-504-3636; fax: +43-512-504-3628
    • ,
  • Karin Kramer-Reinstadler

      Affiliations

    • Department of General Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Hospital, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
    • ,
  • Dietmar Liensberger

      Affiliations

    • Department of General Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Hospital, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
    • ,
  • Georg Kemmler

      Affiliations

    • Department of General Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Hospital, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
    • ,
  • Hartmann Hinterhuber

      Affiliations

    • Department of General Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Hospital, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
    • ,
  • W. Wolfgang Fleischhacker

      Affiliations

    • Department of Biological Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Hospital, Anichstrasse 35, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria

Received 11 October 2002 ,Revised 31 July 2003 ,Accepted 16 September 2003.

References 

  1. Almeida-Montes LG, Valles-Sanchez V, Moreno-Aguilar J, Chavez-Balderas RA, Garcı́a-Marı́n JA, Cortés Sotres JF, et al. Relation of serum cholesterol, lipid, serotonin and tryptophan levels to severity of depression and to suicide attempts. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. 2000;25:371–377
  2. Alvarez JC, Cremniter D, Gluck N, Quintin P, Leboyer M, Berlin I, et al. Low serum cholesterol in violent but not in non-violent suicide attempters. Psychiatry Research. 2000;95:103–108
  3. Apter A, Laufer N, Bar-Sever M, Har-Even D, Ofek H, Weizman A. Serum cholesterol, suicidal tendencies, impulsivity, aggression, and depression in adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Biological Psychiatry. 1999;46:532–541
  4. Barradas MA, Mikhailidis DP, Winder AF. Low serum cholesterol and suicide. [Letter] Lancet. 1992;339:1168
  5. Blazer DG, Burchett BB, Fillenbaum GC. APOE epsilon4 and low cholesterol as risks for depression in a biracial elderly community sample. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2002;10:515–520
  6. Bocchetta A, Chillotti C, Carboni G, Oi A, Ponti M, Del Zompo M. Association of personal and familial suicide risk with low serum cholesterol concentration in male lithium patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2001;104:37–41
  7. Borgherini G, Dorz S, Conforti D, Scarso C, Magni G. Serum cholesterol and psychological distress in hospitalized depressed patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2002;105:149–152
  8. Boston PF, Dursun SM, Reveley MA. Cholesterol and mental disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1996;169:682–689
  9. Brunner J, Parhofer KG, Schwandt P, Bronisch T. Cholesterol, essential fatty acids, and suicide. Pharmacopsychiatry. 2002;35:1–5
  10. Buydens-Branchey L, Branchey M, Hudson J, Fergeson P. Low HDL cholesterol, aggression and altered central serotonergic activity. Psychiatry Research. 2000;93:93–102
  11. Chen CC, Lu F-H, Wu J-S, Chang C-J. Correlation between serum lipid concentrations and psychological distress. Psychiatry Research. 2001;102:153–162
  12. Delva NJ, Matthews DR, Cowen PJ. Brain serotonin (5-HT) neuroendocrine function in patients taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. Biological Psychiatry. 1996;39:100–106
  13. Ellison LF, Morrison HI. Low serum cholesterol concentration and risk of suicide. Epidemiology. 2001;12:168–172
  14. Engelberg H. Low serum cholesterol and suicide. Lancet. 1992;339:727–729
  15. Gallerani M, Manfredini R, Caracciolo S, Scapoli C, Molinari S, Fersini C. Serum cholesterol concentrations in parasuicide. British Medical Journal. 1995;310:1632–1636
  16. Garland M, Hickey D, Corvin A, Golden J, Fitzpatrick P, Cunningham S, et al. Total serum cholesterol in relation to psychological correlates in parasuicide. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2000;177:77–83
  17. Golier JA, Marzuk PM, Leon AC, Weiner C, Tardiff K. Low serum cholesterol level and attempted suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1995;152:419–423
  18. Guillem E, Pélissolo A, Notides C, Lépine J-P. Relationship between attempted suicide, serum cholesterol level and novelty seeking in psychiatric in-patients. Psychiatry Research. 2002;112:83–88
  19. Hamilton M. A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. 1960;23:56–62
  20. Horsten M, Wamala SP, Vingerhoets A, Orth-Gomer K. Depressive symptoms, social support, and lipid profile in healthy middle-aged women. Psychosomatic Medicine. 1997;59:521–528
  21. Huang T-L, Wu S-C. Serum cholesterol levels in paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenia associated with physical violence or suicide attempts in Taiwanese. Psychiatry Research. 2000;96:175–178
  22. Iribarren C, Reed DM, Wergowske G, Burchfiel CM, Dwyer JH. Serum cholesterol level and mortality due to suicide and trauma in the Honolulu Heart Program. Archives of Internal Medicine. 1995;155:695–700
  23. Kim Y-K, Lee H-J, Kim J-Y, Yoon D-K, Choi S-H, Lee M-S. Low serum cholesterol is correlated to suicidality in a Korean sample. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2002;105:141–148
  24. Kunugi H, Takei N, Aoki H, Nanko S. Low serum cholesterol in suicide attempters. Biological Psychiatry. 1997;41:196–200
  25. Kunugi H, Ishida S, Kato T, Sakai T, Tatsumi M, Hirose T, et al. No evidence for an association of polymorphisms of the tryptophan hydroxylase gene with affective disorders or attempted suicide among Japanese patients. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1999;156:774–776
  26. Law MR, Thompson SG, Wald NJ. Assessing possible hazards of reducing serum cholesterol. British Medical Journal. 1994;308:373–379
  27. Law MR, Wald NJ. Depression may cause low cholesterol. [Letter] British Medical Journal. 1995;311:807
  28. Maes M, Delanghe J, Meltzer HY, Scharpé S, D'Hondt P, Cosyns P. Lower degree of esterification of serum cholesterol in depression: relevance for depression and suicide research. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 1994;90:252–258
  29. Manfredini R, Caracciolo S, Salmi R, Boari B, Tomelli A, Gallerani M. The association of low serum cholesterol with depression and suicidal behaviours: new hypotheses for the missing link. Journal of International Medical Research. 2000;28:247–257
  30. Mann JJ, Oquendo M, Underwood MD, Arango V. The neurobiology of suicide risk: a review for the clinician. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 1999;60(Suppl. 2):7–11
  31. Marazziti D, Dell'Osso L, Rossi A, Masala I, Baroni S, Armani A, et al. Decreased platelet [3H]paroxetine binding sites in suicide attempters. Psychiatry Research. 2001;103:125–131
  32. Modai I, Valevski A, Dror S, Weizman A. Serum cholesterol levels and suicidal tendencies in psychiatric inpatients. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 1994;55:252–254
  33. Morgan RE, Palinkas LA, Barrett-Connor EL, Wingard DL. Plasma cholesterol and depressive symptoms in older men. Lancet. 1993;341:75–79
  34. Muldoon MF, Manuck SB, Matthews KA. Lowering cholesterol concentrations and mortality: a quantitative review of primary prevention trials. British Medical Journal. 1990;301:309–314
  35. Muldoon MF, Manuck SB, Mendelsohn AB, Kaplan JR, Belle SH. Cholesterol reduction and non-illness mortality: meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials. British Medical Journal. 2001;322:11–15
  36. New AS, Sevin EM, Mitropoulou V, Reynolds D, Novotny SL, Callahan A, et al. Serum cholesterol and impulsivity in personality disorders. Psychiatry Research. 1999;85:145–150
  37. Nielsen DA, Goldman D, Virkkunen M, Tokola R, Rawlings R, Linnoila M. Suicidality and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentration associated with a tryptophan hydroxylase polymorphism. Archives of General Psychiatry. 1994;51:34–38
  38. Olusi SO, Fido AA. Serum lipid concentrations in patients with major depressive disorder. Biological Psychiatry. 1996;40:1128–1131
  39. Oxenkrug GF, Branconnier RJ, Harto-Truax N, Cole JO. Is serum cholesterol a biological marker for major depressive disorder?. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1983;140:920–921
  40. Pandey GN, Pandey SC, Dwivedi Y, Sharma RP, Janicak PG, Davis JM. Platelet serotonin-2A receptors: a potential biological marker for suicidal behavior. American Journal of Psychiatry. 1995;152:850–855
  41. Papakostas GI, Petersen T, Mischoulon D, Hughes ME, Alpert JE, Nierenberg AA, et al. Serum cholesterol and serotonergic function in major depressive disorder. Psychiatry Research. 2003;118:137–145
  42. Papassotiropoulos A, Hawellek B, Frahnert C, Rao GS, Rao ML. The risk of acute suicidality in psychiatric inpatients increases with low plasma cholesterol. Pharmacopsychiatry. 1999;32:1–4
  43. Partonen T, Haukka J, Virtamo J, Taylor PR, Lönnqvist J. Association of low serum total cholesterol with major depression and suicide. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1999;175:259–262
  44. Rabe-Jablońska J, Poprawska I. Levels of serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol in patients with major depression in acute period and remission. Medical Science Monitor. 2000;6:539–547
  45. Rafter D. Biochemical markers of anxiety and depression. Psychiatry Research. 2001;103:93–96
  46. Roy A, Nielsen D, Rylander G, Sarchiapone M. The genetics of suicidal behaviour. In:  Hawton K,  Van Heeringen K editor. Suicide and Attempted Suicide. Chichester, UK: Wiley; 2000;p. 209–221
  47. Roy A, Gonzalez B, Marcus A, Berman J. Serum cholesterol, suicidal behavior and impulsivity in cocaine-dependent patients. Psychiatry Research. 2001;101:243–247
  48. Salter M. Low serum cholesterol and suicide. [Letter] Lancet. 1992;339:1169
  49. Sarchiapone M, Roy A, Camardese G, De Risio S. Further evidence for low serum cholesterol and suicidal behaviour. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2000;61:69–71
  50. Sarchiapone M, Camardese G, Roy A, Della Casa S, Satta MA, Gonzalez B, et al. Cholesterol and serotonin indices in depressed and suicidal patients. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2001;62:217–219
  51. Suarez EC. Relations of trait depression and anxiety to low lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in healthy young adult women. Psychosomatic Medicine. 1999;61:273–279
  52. Sullivan PF, Joyce PR, Bulik CM, Mulder RT, Oakley-Browne M. Total cholesterol and suicidality in depression. Biological Psychiatry. 1994;36:472–477
  53. Tanskanen A, Vartiainen E, Tuomilehto J, Viinamäki H, Lehtonen J, Puska P. High serum cholesterol and risk of suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2000;157:648–650
  54. Terao T, Iwata N, Kanazawa K, Takano T, Takahashi N, Hayashi T, et al. Low serum cholesterol levels and depressive state in human dock visitors. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 2000;101:231–234
  55. Terao T, Nakamura J, Yoshimura R, Ohmori O, Takahashi N, Kojima H, et al. Relationship between serum cholesterol levels and meta-chlorophenylpiperazine-induced cortisol responses in healthy men and women. Psychiatry Research. 2000;96:167–173
  56. Tsai S-YM, Kuo C-J, Chen C-C, Lee H-C. Risk factors for completed suicide in bipolar disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2002;63:469–476
  57. Vartiainen E, Puska P, Pekkanen J, Tuomilehto J, Lönnqvist J, Ehnholm C. Serum cholesterol concentration and mortality from accidents, suicide, and other violent causes. British Medical Journal. 1994;309:445–447
  58. Vevera J, Žukov I, Morcinek T, Papežová H. Cholesterol concentrations in violent and non-violent women suicide attempters. European Psychiatry. 2003;18:23–27
  59. Wardle J. Cholesterol and psychological well-being. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 1995;39:549–562
  60. Yates WR, Wallace R. Cardiovascular risk factors in affective disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders. 1987;12:129–134
  61. Zureik M, Courbon D, Ducimetière P. Serum cholesterol concentration and death from suicide in men: Paris prospective study I. British Medical Journal. 1996;313:649–651

PII: S0165-1781(03)00254-3

doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2003.09.007

Psychiatry Research
Volume 121, Issue 3 , Pages 253-261 , 1 January 2004

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution