.png)
Objective: At studies trying to explain the association between depression and immune system, pro-inşammatory cytokines have come to the fore and there appears to be an increase in particular at the cellular immune response. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of depressive episodes on serum levels of neopterin and Hp by comparing serum haptoglobin and neopterin levels of the depressive patients at their first attack with depression patients suffering from recurrent attacks and with the healthy control group.
Method: Eighty patients who admitted to the outpatient psychiatry clinic of Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GMMF), Ankara, Turkey were included in the study. 44 individuals were being followed up with a diagnosis of first episode depression. There were 36 patients in the recurrent major depression (MD) group. The control group consisted of 41 healthy individuals
Results: At the recurrent MD group serum Hp and neopterin levels were higher than the first episode MD patients and the control group. HAM-D scores of MD patients (both first-episode MD and recurrent MD group) were correlated with serum levels of Hp, but there was no correlation between serum neopterin levels and HAM-D scores.
Conclusion: The independent factor affecting the neopterin and Hp levels in patients with MD was found as the number of episodes of depression. Unlike the first episode patients, recurrent episodes have resulted with increased levels of both markers.