Antioxidative enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation in major depression: alterations by antidepressant treatments

Background: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) may play a role in some neuropsyc hiatric disorders. There is some evidence that the activation of immune-inf lammatory process, increase of monoamines catabolism, and abnormalities in lipid compounds may cause overproduction of ROS and, in turn, antioxidative enzyme activities (AEAs) and lipid peroxidation (LP), and that these pheno mena may be related to pathophysiology of major depression. Methods: The ai ms of this study were (i) to examine the AEAs and LP levels of the major de pressed (MD) patients, and to compare these with healthy controls; and (ii) to investigate the effect of subchronic treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on AEAs and LP levels in MD subjects, Thirty M D patients, and 32 healthy controls (HC) participated in this study. AEAs a nd LP levels were determined by measuring several antioxidative enzymes and malondialdehyde (MDA levels in plasma and/or in red blood cells. Results: Major depressed patients, especially melancholic patients, had higher AEA a nd LP levels than those of healthy controls. After treatment for 3 months w ith SSRIs, AEA and LP levels of the patients were significantly decreased t o normal levels. Conclusion: These findings suggest that (i) major depressi on, especially with melancholia, is associated with elevated AEAs and LP, a nd that (ii) subchronic treatment with SSRIs may have a suppressive effect on AEA and LP. Clinical implication and limitation: AEAs might be used for monitoring SSRIs effects. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.