Immunological substrates of depressive symptoms in patients with severe obesity: An exploratory study.
Cell Biochem Funct
; 39(3): 423-431, 2021 Apr.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33401342
ABSTRACT
In this pilot study, we explored the immune phenotype of patients with severe obesity and comorbid depressive symptoms compared to non-depressed patients with obesity and normal-weight controls. Immune cell subsets were analysed by flow cytometry and depressive symptoms assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Cell frequencies were correlated with depressive symptom scores and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Patients with obesity and comorbid depression showed significantly lower numbers of circulating cytotoxic natural killer cells, dendritic cells and CD8+ effector memory T cells, compared to normal-weight controls. Regulatory T cells and CD4+ central memory T cells were increased compared to non-depressed patients with obesity and compared to normal-weight controls, respectively. Frequencies of cytotoxic natural killer cells and CD4+ central memory T cells significantly correlated with PHQ-9 scores, but not with WHR. Reduced numbers of dendritic cells were observed in both patient groups with obesity and correlated with PHQ-9 scores and WHR. These findings provide evidence for an altered immune composition in comorbid obesity and depression, supporting a pathobiological overlap between the two disorders.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Dendritic Cells
/
Obesity, Morbid
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CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
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CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
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Depression
/
Immunologic Memory
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
Limits:
Adult
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Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Cell Biochem Funct
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: