Maes M, Van der Planken M, Stevens W J, Peeters D, DeClerck L S, Bridts C H, Schotte C, Cosyns P
Department of Psychiatry, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
J Psychiatr Res. 1992 Apr;26(2):125-34. doi: 10.1016/0022-3956(92)90004-8.
To date, there has been a small number of reports that severe depression is accompanied by disturbances in total white blood cell (i.e. leukocytosis) and leukocyte subset (i.e. neutrophilia, monocytosis, lymphopenia) counts. These results, however, have not yet been validated in a large-scale, well-controlled study. To this end, we have counted the number of leukocytes, monocytes, lymphocytes and granulocytes (neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils) in 22 healthy controls and in 109 depressed inpatients. We noted leukocytosis in major depressed patients compared with normal subjects, whilst minor depressives manifested intermediate findings. Leukocytosis was significantly more pronounced in major depressed males compared with major depressed females. Major depression related leukocytosis appears to be characterized by neutrophilia and monocytosis. There was a significant positive relationship between the overall severity of illness on one hand, and the degrees of leukocytosis, neutrophilia and monocytosis on the other. The total number of both phagocytic cell populations (i.e. monocytes and neutrophils) was significantly and positively related. Our results might point to the existence of an inflammatory process in major depressed subjects, particularly in males.
迄今为止，已有少数报告指出，重度抑郁症伴有全血细胞（即白细胞增多）和白细胞亚群（即中性粒细胞增多、单核细胞增多、淋巴细胞减少）计数紊乱。然而，这些结果尚未在大规模、严格对照的研究中得到验证。为此，我们对22名健康对照者和109名抑郁症住院患者的白细胞、单核细胞、淋巴细胞和粒细胞（中性粒细胞、嗜酸性粒细胞、嗜碱性粒细胞）数量进行了计数。我们注意到，与正常受试者相比，重度抑郁症患者存在白细胞增多现象，而轻度抑郁症患者则表现出中间结果。与重度抑郁症女性相比，重度抑郁症男性的白细胞增多更为明显。重度抑郁症相关的白细胞增多似乎以中性粒细胞增多和单核细胞增多为特征。一方面，疾病的总体严重程度与另一方面的白细胞增多、中性粒细胞增多和单核细胞增多程度之间存在显著的正相关关系。两种吞噬细胞群体（即单核细胞和中性粒细胞）的总数存在显著的正相关。我们的结果可能表明，重度抑郁症患者，尤其是男性患者，存在炎症过程。
