Schleifer S J, Keller S E, Bartlett J A, Eckholdt H M, Delaney B R
Department of Psychiatry, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, 07103, USA.
Am J Psychiatry. 1996 Apr;153(4):477-82. doi: 10.1176/ajp.153.4.477.
The authors previously found evidence for an age-related association between major depression and altered immunity. The present study was designed to assess a range of immune measures in young adults with major depression.
A homogeneous group of 21 unmedicated, ambulatory young adults with unipolar major depressive episode, as determined with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, were assessed in comparison with 21 matched nondepressed subjects. An extended battery of quantitative and functional immune measures was obtained on the same day from depressed and nondepressed subjects.
Young adult subjects with major depression had more circulating leukocytes and granulocytes, fewer CD56+ (natural killer [NK]) cells, and, when the number of circulating NK cells was controlled, less NK cell activity. Mitogen responses, consistent with the authors' previous report, showed little difference between the young adults with and without major depression except for a possibly greater response at the highest dose of phytohemagglutinin.
Major depression in young adults is associated with alterations in aspects of the immune system primarily involving NK cells. Some but not all these immune changes differ from those found in older depressed adults.
作者之前发现了重度抑郁症与免疫改变之间存在与年龄相关的关联证据。本研究旨在评估患有重度抑郁症的年轻成年人的一系列免疫指标。
采用《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第三版修订本（DSM-III-R）结构化临床访谈确定了一组21名未接受药物治疗、行动自如的患有单相重度抑郁发作的年轻成年人，并与21名匹配的非抑郁受试者进行比较。在同一天对抑郁和非抑郁受试者进行了一系列广泛的定量和功能性免疫指标检测。
患有重度抑郁症的年轻成年受试者循环白细胞和粒细胞更多，CD56 +（自然杀伤 [NK]）细胞更少，并且在控制循环NK细胞数量后，NK细胞活性更低。与作者之前的报告一致，丝裂原反应显示，患有和未患有重度抑郁症的年轻成年人之间差异不大，只是在最高剂量的植物血凝素刺激下可能有更大的反应。
年轻成年人的重度抑郁症与免疫系统方面的改变有关，主要涉及NK细胞。这些免疫变化中的一些但并非全部与老年抑郁成年人中发现的变化不同。
