Associations of uric acid and lipids with depression, dimensions of depression and anxiety symptoms
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Discovering biological correlates of depression (and symptom dimensions) and anxiety is a topic of ongoing research. We aimed to examine the associations of uric acid (UA) and lipids with depression (sum and emotional, neurovegetative, cognitive dimension) and anxiety symptoms. METHODS: Participants were screened for depression and anxiety symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaires, respectively, in primary care in Greece during January-June 2022. Serum UA and lipids were recorded and socio-demographic, behavioral, and personal history covariates were also collected. Poisson regression analyses were performed to determine associations between recorded parameters and the PHQ-9 (sum-score and emotional, neurovegetative, cognitive dimension) and GAD-7 scores. RESULTS: A total of 181 individuals answered the questionnaires. The mean age was 61.8 ± 10.8 years, and 68% were female. The prevalence of clinically significant depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) and anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10) symptoms was 20.4%, respectively. PHQ-9 score was negatively associated with UA, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and income, and positively with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and physical activity. The neurovegetative dimension of the PHQ-9 score was negatively associated with UA and HDL-C, while the cognitive was positively associated with LDL-C. GAD-7 score was negatively associated with HDL-C and income, and positively with LDL-C and physical activity, while it was higher in females and smokers. CONCLUSIONS: Both UA and lipids were associated with depression and anxiety symptoms. The neurovegetative and cognitive symptoms of depression exhibited different biological correlates with low UA and HDL-C, and high LDL-C, respectively.