Serum cholesterol in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder during treatment with behavior therapy and SSRI or placebo

Objective: Patients with panic disorder are reported to have elevated chole sterol levels. There is also some evidence that cholesterol elevation is no t so much a specific condition in panic disorder but is generally associate d with anxiety. So far, there is little data on cholesterol levels in patie nts with obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) which is also classified as a nxiety disorder. Method: Thirty-three patients with OCD participated in the study. Serum cholesterol was measured as pretreatment and at the end of a ten-week treatment-period. All patients received behavior therapy and, in a double-blind fashion, fluvoxamine or placebo. Severity of OCD was assessed by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Results: Pretreatme nt cholesterol values of OCD patients were compared with cholesterol levels of thirty panic disorder patients and thirty normal controls. OCD patients had elevated cholesterol levels comparable with those of panic disorder pa tients. Cholesterol levels decreased significantly from pre- to posttreatme nt. OCD patients with high cholesterol levels (greater than or equal to 240 mg/dl, n = 7) could make best use of the treatment whereas patients with d esirable cholesterol levels (< 200 mg/dl, n = 11) did not change their chol esterol during treatment. Conclusions: Our data support the assumption that not only panic disorder but also other anxiety disorders, e.g., obsessive compulsive disorders, may be associated with serum cholesterol elevations. Effective treatment (behavior therapy and/or treatment with a selective ser otonin reuptake inhibitor [SSRI]) seems to decrease cholesterol levels, esp ecially in patients with pathological cholesterol elevations.