INTRODUCTION: Bipolar disorder (BD) and unipolar depression (UD) are complex and multifactorial mental disorders characterized by mood swings, disability, and impaired quality of life. In the present study, we researched the roles of inflammatory cells and their value as inflammation markers in BD and UD.
OBJECTIVE: Sixty-nine manic, 60 euthymic, and 70 UD patients and 60 sex-matched healthy volunteers (control group) were retrospectively analysed. Platelet (PLT), platelet distribution width (PDW), and red cell distribution width (RDW) levels were measured in four groups. The aim of this study was to evaluate PLT, PDW, and RDW levels patient with UD and two different phases of BD: euthymic and manic.
RESULTS: In our study, 199 patients and 60 controls were included. There were no differences between the patients and the healthy control group participants in terms of age and sex. The bipolar episodes and the UD patient group were statistically significantly different from the healthy controls in terms of PLT, PDW, and RDW.
CONCLUSION: Our study is the first in the literature to compare blood PLT, PDW, and RDW levels in bipolar episodes, UD patients, and healthy control groups. We believe that the levels of PLT, PDW, and RDW can be used as novel markers of bipolar episodes and UD. More detailed and larger prospective clinical studies are required to confirm these findings.